Postgraduate Study

Master of Infectious Diseases

Intelligence
Never Stand Still

Medicine

Global burden and

challenges of infectious
diseases
Infectious diseases such as
measles, malaria, tuberculosis
and HIV/AIDS continue to
contribute significantly to the
global burden of disease and
remain leading causes of death
across the world. Emerging and
re-emerging infections such
as pandemic influenza, Ebola,
dengue, Zika virus, chikungunya
and MERS Corona Virus (CoV)
pose an additional public health
challenge and require coordinated
and systematic disease control
responses. Ecosystems, climate
change, global travel, rapid
urbanisation, intensive agricultural
and animal husbandry practices
all act to alter the pathogenhost interaction and continually
changing infectious diseases
epidemiology. In addition, hospital
based infections and antibiotic
resistance are an increasing
concern. A multi-disciplinary,
public health approach is needed
to understand the requirements
for infectious diseases control
at a population level. Infectious
diseases intelligence refers to
the understanding of epidemic
patterns, critical analysis and
application of this knowledge to
disease control.

sphcm.med.unsw.edu.au
CRICOS Provider No 00098G

School of Public Health and Community Medicine

About the Infectious Diseases

Intelligence Program
The Master of Infectious Diseases
Intelligence (MIDI) equips
graduates with advanced skills in
public health aspects of infectious
diseases intelligence, response,
prevention and mitigation.
The School of Public Health and
Community Medicine has worldrenowned expertise in infectious
diseases, and this expertise is
showcased in the program.
The MIDI would be an advantage to
professionals seeking a career in public
health control of infectious diseases,
health emergencies, outbreaks,
infectious diseases risk assessment,
vaccination and other infectious
diseases control programs.
This program builds on principles
of epidemiology and public health
toward infectious diseases intelligence
in the era of new and emerging
infectious disease threats in a rapidly
changing global landscape. For those
with an interest in disasters and
emergency management, the MIDI
can be tailored toward this interest,
including with a range of electives
from Arizona State University.
The MIDI is suitable for candidates
wanting more intensive and focused
learning in infectious diseases,
who do not require the general

grounding in public health provided

in the Master of Public Health core
subjects. This program is available
fully online, fully face-to-face, or
in a combination of modes.

Program objectives
The MIDI provides students with
advanced disciplinary knowledge
and skills in infectious diseases
prevention and control in a range of
settings including in communities,
risk groups, emergencies, as well
as risk assessment, surveillance,
advanced epidemiologic concepts
applied to infectious diseases
control. The program is relevant for
anyone working in government, nongovernment, community and health
service settings in Australia and
internationally. The MIDI will foster
sophisticated understanding and
application across a complex body of
multidisciplinary knowledge including
infectious diseases intelligence,
outbreak investigation, immunisation
and tropical disease control.
Students can tailor their program
to suit their career needs, choosing
from a large array of specialist
courses in infectious diseases.
Graduates are equipped with
the specialised skills needed for
professional practice in control of
infectious diseases and emergencies
across a range of contexts, to
improve population health outcomes
specific to infectious diseases.

MIDI PROGRAM STRUCTURE

Students must take the following eight
courses to complete their degree:
Five MIDI core courses:
PHCM9782 Current Challenges in
Infectious Diseases
PHCM9050 Immunisation Policy & Practice
PHCM9788 Infectious Diseases
Intelligence
PHCM9784 Tropical Disease Control
PHCM9498 Epidemiology and Statistics
for Public Health OR PHCM9781 Evidence
Informed Decision Making
One course from recommended
Infectious Diseases electives:
PHCM9783 Communicable Disease
Control in Humanitarian Emergencies and
Disasters
PHCM9789 Bioterrorism and Health
Intelligence
PHCM9731 Outbreak Investigation
PHCM9785 Predictive Modelling in Public
Health
PHCM9622 The Global HIV Epidemic:
Social Aspects
PHCM9621 HIV/AIDS: Australian and
International Responses
PHCM9811 Social Studies in Public Health
Two courses from SPHCM electives, or
the list above:
PHCM9517 Advanced Biostatistics &
Statistical Computing
PHCM9518 Advanced Epidemiology*
PHCM9520 Advanced Social and
Behavioural Epidemiology*
PHCM9132 Applied Research Methods in
Public Health
PHCM9108 Project Design and Evaluation
PHCM9440 Economic Evaluation in Health
PHCM9041 Foundations in Public Health
and Health Care Systems
PHCM9605 International Health
PHCM9331 Ethics & Law in Public Health
PHCM9701 Health Leadership and
Workforce Management
* PHCM9498 Epidemiology and Statistics for
Public Health is a pre-requisite for these courses

Electives from Arizona State

University
Coming soon, we will offer electives
from Arizona State University, including
Integrated Emergency Management,
Homeland Security, Public Management,
Information Technology in Emergency
Management, Community Resilience
& Recovery, Interoperability for
Emergency Managers, Critical Incident
Stress Management and Applied Data
Analysis in CJ. It is expected these will
be available from the ASU academic
year 2016/17 onward. Inquire now.

Your choice from wide range of

courses
In addition to the core courses,
Current Challenges in Infectious
Diseases, Immunisation Policy and
Practice, Tropical Disease Control
and Infectious Diseases Intelligence,
students can choose from a wide
selection of subjects including
Outbreaks, HIV/AIDS: Australian and
International Response, Bioterrorism
and Health Intelligence and the
WHO Communicable Diseases
in Humanitarian Emergencies
course. Specific infectious diseases
subjects can be supplemented
with methodological courses such
as Epidemiology and Biostatistics.
Coming soon, we will offer fully
online electives in disaster response
and emergency management
from Arizona State University.

The global classroom comes to

you, fully online or face-to-face
The program is designed to be
delivered either face-to-face, fully
online or a combination of modes to
suit your needs. Fully online mode
gives students access to course
resources and learning activities via
our state-of-the-art online learning
management system, meaning you
can participate no matter where you
are, or what your schedule. We provide
multimedia recordings of lectures,
interactive learning modules, video
clips of real world scenarios and case
studies from the field to create mediarich, engaging learning environments.
We facilitate collaborative learning
opportunities through the use of
wikis, blogs, and group discussion
facilities and our webinar applications
allow students to connect with peers
and course convenors in real-time
via audio/video link ups. The fully

online mode may suit busy clinicians

anywhere in the world who wish to
study while working. For those who
wish to complete the majority of their
study online and also experience
Sydney for a short period of time, the
option of doing our Summer School
courses will meet this need.

Articulation
The Graduate Diploma and the
Graduate Certificate articulate with
the Master of Infectious Diseases
Intelligence. For information on the
certificate or diploma programs,
please see sphcm.med.unsw.edu.au/
infectious-diseases-program.

Program convenors
For further information, enquiries or
expressions of interest contact:
Dr Alexander Rosewell, Co-Director
T +61 (2) 9385 3942
E a.rosewell@unsw.edu.au
Dr Mohamud Sheikh, Co-Director
T +61 (2) 9385 9438
E m.sheikh@unsw.edu.au
Dr Padmanesan Narasimhan
Co-Director
T +61 (2) 9385 3944
E padmanesan@unsw.edu.au
School of Public Health and
Community Medicine
University of New South Wales
Sydney NSW 2052, Australia
Photos courtesy of Flickr: K Simourd,
Al Jazeera; FDA.

sphcm.med.unsw.edu.au/future-students/postgraduate-coursework/infectious-disease-program