Pharmaceutical Public Health: SOPH offering short courses and accredited Masters-level modules

This is an exciting time for public health and pharmacy professionals to build their skills in Pharmaceutical Public Health.

This is an exciting time for public health and pharmacy professionals to build their skills in Pharmaceutical Public Health. Pharmaceuticals are critical components of health systems and the increasing burden of chronic non-communicable diseases, as well as HIV/AIDS, has highlighted the need for innovative approaches to manage pharmaceuticals in Africa.

The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is unique among African institutions and has been offering face-to-face short courses and accredited Masters-level online distance learning modules related to Pharmaceutical Public Health since 2014. These modules can be taken within the existing Master of Public Health (MPH) programme or as individual Continuing Education modules.

In 2019 we will offer Pharmaceutical Policy and Management and Rational Medicines Use short courses at Winter School in July and online/distance semester modules from July-September 2019. The Pharmaceutical Policy and Management Course will introduce participants to pharmaceutical policy and management issues within health systems. It will provide a foundation for pharmaceutical policy analysis, policy development and implementation skills at country and local levels. Selected areas include quality of medical products, antimicrobial resistance, human resources and corruption. The Rational Medicines Use Course will introduce the rational medicines use concept and a range of tools to investigate and promote rational medicines use. The course this year will have a particular focus on antibiotic resistance and stewardship. See overleaf for more details of short courses and online modules offered in 2019.

Teachers come from UWC Schools of Public Health and Pharmacy, Boston University School of Public Health, USA, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium and South African provincial and national health departments. Past students have come from all over Africa, most South African provinces and from government, NGO and the private sectors.

By studying these topics you will learn skills to promote rational use and advise on access to quality assured medicines policies. The courses emphasize practical skills that can be immediately translated into the workplace. Alongside these activities our research programme in Pharmaceutical Public Health at UWC is growing, with increasing numbers of MPH and doctoral students focusing in this area.

Further details:

Winter School Short Courses 2019
(face-to-face short courses may be taken alone or collaboration with online/distance modules)

Pharmaceutical Policy and Management Course
Duration: 1 week (1-5 July 2019)

Rational Medicine Use Course 
Duration: 1 week (8-12 July 2019)

Cost per short course: R4,800 South Africans; US$ 350 Internationals with African citizenship or working in Africa; US $600 Other Internationals.       Note: Cost covers 5-day tuition and lunches only, excludes travel, accommodation & all other expenses.

Application Form: In Brochure, on Website or link below
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeipLAiYzGn3MW1hQtIzbnU7SbmnBNsI3zLv-h2rqSsl0fnIA/viewform
Application Deadline: 5th April 2019 (or contact hbradley@uwc.ac.za for further information)

Online/Distance Learning MPH and Continuing Education Modules 2019

Each online/distance learning module carries 15 credits at Masters-level and entails 150 notional hours of learning which include: activities, online interaction with conveners and fellow students, self-study – reading, case study analyses and assignments. These modules can be used as elective courses within the UWC MPH programme or earn Continuing Education points.

Pharmaceutical Policy and Management Module
Duration: 1 semester (July – November 2019)
Cost per module: R5,000 South Africans; US$350 Internationals with African citizenship; US $950 Internationals without African citizenship.
Target group: Policy makers and advisors, managers responsible for policy implementation, consultants and academics with an interest in policy implementation and management.

Rational Medicine Use Module
Duration: 1 semester (July – November 2019)
Cost per module: R5,000 South Africans; US$350 Internationals with African citizenship; US $950 Internationals without African citizenship.
Target group: Health professionals, including pharmacists, doctors and nurses from the public (government) and private sectors and NGOs working at national, provincial, district and facility levels involved in managing and use of medicines.

Admission requirements: Possession of a relevant professional qualification at Bachelors (Hons) level (equivalent to South African NQF 8).
Application Deadline: 31 May 2019

For Application Form and Information contact Dr Hazel Bradley Tel: +27 21 959 2630,
Cell: +27 72 297 9932, Email: hbradley@uwc.ac.za or Website: www.uwcsoph.co.za