Slide 1 Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Bachelor of Science Majors 2012 Thank you for your interest in the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major as part of the Bachelor of Science at The University of Western Australia.
Slide 2 FMDHS Majors in Bachelor of Science • Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing • Marine Science • Agricultural Science • Mathematics and Statistics • Anatomy and Human Biology • Microbiology and Immunology • Applied Computing • Natural Resource Management • Biochemistry and Molecular Biology • Neuropsychology and Cognitive Science • Biomedical Science • Neuroscience • Botany • Pathology and Laboratory Medicine • Chemistry • Pharmacology • Computer Science • Physics • Conservation Biology • Physiology • Engineering Science • Population Health • Environmental Science • Quantitative Methods • Exercise and Health • Science Communication • Genetics • Sports Science • Geography • Zoology • Geology There is a range of majors offered within the Bachelor of Science and five of these are offered by the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Science, including the major in Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing.
Slide 3 Degree-specific majors • If you take any of these majors as degree-specific majors, you will need to also take the complementary units, where they exist The major has some complementary units that are required to be taken as a supplement to the core units, when the major is taken as a degree-specific major in the Bachelor of Science.
Slide 4 Why Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing? • Understand: – origins of health and health care disparities – historical context of the present setting – Aboriginal community initiatives that do make a difference – Aboriginal perspectives – ways of working • walking alongside Why do we talk about Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing? and why is there a course that allows you to investigate those areas in greater detail? We are particularly interested in trying to provide students with the opportunity to understand the origins of the health and health care disparities that exist between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in Australia. We wish to provide you with an understanding of the historical context in which we find ourselves in Australia in the present time. We will give you the opportunity to explore Aboriginal community initiatives that have been in place for some forty years that are aimed at trying to initiate significant change in the health experience of Aboriginal people. And particularly we will be giving you an Aboriginal perspective on these issues. The majority of the staff who you will meet and the people you will come across as you study this major will be Aboriginal people, mostly with a health background, and many will be medical practitioners. What we are trying to get you to be able to do by the time you have completed this course is to understand the ways of working that are most effective when working in Aboriginal health, in partnership with Aboriginal people and Aboriginal communities. We are trying to get you to the point where you can understand about how to, what we call, walk alongside or sit alongside Aboriginal people in the journey towards providing better health and health care outcomes.
Slide 5 What you can learn in the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major? There is a range of things that you can learn and as we are mainly based in Noongar country on Whadjuk land we will be giving you the experience of understanding what is going on in the local setting; to understand some of the history, some of the contemporary cultural beliefs and practices and circumstances in this local area. We will also be giving you the opportunity through some complementary units to learn some of the basic sciences that are quite important in a future career related to health and Aboriginal health.
Slide 6 The Aboriginal Health & Wellbeing major • Year 1 – Aboriginal encounters: strangers in my backyard • Historical and – Knowing country: the Dreaming and Darwin contemporary – Human biology 1: becoming human context? – Human Biology 2: being human • Year 2 • How do we know? – Aboriginal health and wellbeing What do we know? – Indigenous knowledge: mind, body, spirit – Foundations of epidemiology & biostatistics – Communication and project planning in health • Year 3 • Settings, experience, research and practice – Aboriginal health community organisation placement – Aboriginal health research project – Aboriginal social and emotional wellbeing – Indigenous research and ethics The focus that we will give you will be strongly driven by an indigenous or an Aboriginal understanding. That is why there is a range of units that have that context. If you look at the unit descriptions in the University handbook you will start to understand that. As you develop greater skills and knowledge we are then going to give you the opportunity to work alongside Aboriginal people in an Aboriginal community or organisation with a particular health focus. Of course we will also talk about some of the complexities in social and emotional wellbeing that are of relevance in Aboriginal communities and are of great relevance to future workers in health and health related areas and we will introduce you to important aspects of research and ethics and get you to do an Aboriginal health based research project.
Slide 7 Studying Aboriginal Health & Wellbeing at UWA • As a single major in the BSc Degree • With another major from Science – (as either a degree-specific or 2 nd major) • I st major with another major from Arts, Design or Commerce • As a second major in B Arts, B Design or B Com. When you enrol in the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major you can do it as a single major in the Bachelor of Science. You can do it alongside another major in the Bachelor of Science or any of our other degrees; or you can enrol in it as a second major from one of the other degrees: either Arts, Design or Commerce.
Slide 8 Aboriginal Health & Wellbeing Major Course study plan As you can see there are eight core units required for the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major, and there are a number of complementary units in both first and second year (for students taking the major as their degree-specific major). There are also a number of opportunities to broaden your knowledge base and to have flexibility in choosing other areas of study as your electives and your broadening units.
Slide 9 What can you do in Aboriginal health? Career options include: • policy officer • research officer • project management • team leaders • work for Aboriginal community organisations • work for government • work in the private sector • postgraduate research or study There is a range of career opportunities once you successfully complete your Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major. Obviously you can work within the Aboriginal community sector, within the private sector or within the government. You can also use this major as a beginning point for further study or postgraduate research.
Slide 10 What about broadening units?
Slide 11 Cat A Broadening units offered by FMDHS and Science • See the the UWA online handbook 2012 for all your options http://handbooks.uwa.edu.au/ If you look at the handbook you will see all the options you can choose in terms of broadening units that will complement some of your learning.
Slide 12 Thank you! Text Course Coordinator: Dr David Paul Phone 6488 7084 david.paul@uwa.edu.au So thank you for your interest and if wish to get any further information regarding the Aboriginal Health and Wellbeing major, please feel free to contact the Faculty advisers or the course coordinator. Thank you.
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