Public

Professor Hal Swerissen

The University is strongly committed to growth in response to the Federal Government's aim to expand the number of young people with a degree by 30% over the next 15 years. Our program of curriculum change, clinical school networks and the introduction
of the La Trobe Rural Health School is a key part of the La Trobe's growth strategy, but in the end the Faculty's success is based on the commitment of the staff. In particular, I would like to thank all staff who assisted with open day activities this year. We had a great response and I look forward to it translating to greater student demand in 2010!

Out and About

• Reappointed as Director of Alfred Health for a further three year
  term.


• Attended  launch of health reform in Canberra by Prime Minister.


• The regional strategy for La Trobe was launched in Albury Wodonga and Shepparton.


• Attended  the National Health Workforce Taskforce clinical training funding reference group meeting  in Sydney.


• Participated in the National Health and Medical Research Partnerships Research panel in Canberra.


• Attended  the Innovative Research Universities Australia Senior Management Forum.


• Participated in the development of the National Primary Care Strategy as a member of the Minister for Health's  External Reference Group.


• Published an opinion article in The Age on health reform.

Staff Publications

Bragge, A. & Fenner, P. (2009) The Emergence of the 'Interactive Square' as an Approach to Art Therapy with Children on the Autistic Spectrum.  International Journal of Art Therapy 14 (1).

Liamputtong, P. (2009) Qualitative data analysis: Conceptual and practical considerations. Australian Journal of Health Promotion,
20 (2), 133-139.

Carey, L.B., Rumbold, B., Cohen, J. (2009) Health Care Chaplaincy and Euthanasia in Australia (Feature article), Scottish Journal of Healthcare Chaplaincy, Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 1-9.

Williamson Dianne, Best Practice Article on the website of www.latrobe.edu.au/careers/staff/staff-profiles/DWilliamson.html

A non-residential  alternative to off campus writers' retreats for academics Authors: Virginia Dickson-Swift, Erica L. James, Sandra Kippen; Lyn Talbot; Glenda Verrinder; Bernadette Ward. www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all?content=10.1080/03098770903026156

McLachlan H, Forster D. The safety of home birth: is the evidence good enough?  CMAJ. Accepted for publication 9 July 2009.
(Invited commentary) IF = 7.5.

McLachlan HL, Gold L, Forster DA, et al. Women's views of postnatal care in the context of the increasing pressure on postnatal beds in Australia. Women Birth, 2009. May 22 (E-pub ahead of print). IF = 0.9.

Forster D, McLachlan  H. Women's views and experiences of breast feeding:
positive, negative, or just good for the baby? In press, Midwifery. Accepted 24 April 2008. IF =1.04.

Staff Presentations

Carey, L.B. (2009) 'Chaplaincy, Pastoral and Spiritual Care Research': Integrating spirituality in the practice of health care', Seminar Paper presented at the 3rd Australian Conference on Spirituality and Health,
13-15 July, Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, South Australia.

Carey, L.B. (2009) 'The Sacralisation of Identity Interfaith Spiritual Care Paradigm': Integrating spirituality in the practice of health care', Key Note Address presented at the 3rd Australian Conference on Spirituality
and Health, 13-15 July, Elder Hall, University of Adelaide, South Australia.

Jon Willis has been invited to the 17th Ministerial Rural Health Forum
7/8/09 - he will be speaking on "Indigenous Health Issues and Rural
Victoria.

Prof Warburton chaired an international symposium on age friendly communities at the International Assoc of Geriatrics and Gerontology Conference in Paris, July; she also was invited to present at a symposium at Shandong University in Jinan, China in July on Productive Ageing.

Dr Eileen Petrie presented a paper at an International Community Health Nursing Research conference in Adelaide this month.  The conference theme "Health in Transition - Researching the Future" focussed on the future of nursing, leadership roles of nurses and nurse-led policy development.

Lael Ridgway also presented to the international 'Health In Transition: Researching for the Future' conference. The talk was entitled "Use of information technology in primary health care: the views and experiences of nurses working in the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Service".

Dr Eileen Petrie and Ms Judith Moore, Upper Hume Primary Care Partnership presented a paper at the National Rural health conference held in Perth in May. The presentation reflected the benefits and outcomes of forming an alliance between La Trobe University undergraduate nursing students and community agencies in the development of health promotion.

Dr Helen McLachlan recently presented three papers at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand Conference.

Research - Funding and Grant Success

Staff in Podiatry and the MRC were recently awarded a competitive, external research grant.  Podiatrists Registration Board of Victoria Research Funding Scheme: $85,000,
Investigators:  Landorf KB, Raspovic A, Bird AR, Menz HB, Miller J, Tenant J, Spring A., Project Title: : Offloading modalities for
healing and preventing  diabetic neuropathic foot ulceration: a multi-centred, evidence-based project.  This was a joint application and the last three investigators are from Austin Health and Northern Health.

Podiatry has recently finalised Memorandum's of Understanding with the University of Salford and the University of Southampton in England. These have primarily been set up to further research links and to investigate teaching staff swaps between the universities.

The large rural aged care workforce research project funded by DHS
is well under way at the John Richards Initiative with 5 research staff.

New ARC Linkage grant 2009-11, Obst, White, Warburton, Spencer, Responding to the rural skills crisis: Developing and implementing an empirical model of incentives to attract retired/semi-retired professionals as volunteers in rural areas. This model will be implemented in rural sites across Queensland and Victoria.

Two new PhD scholarships have been awarded at the John Richards Initiative (one funded by regional DHS) and both students will start on 1 September.

The Centre for Health Communication and Participation has been awarded nationally competitive grant funding from the Department
of Health and Ageing for Cochrane Collaboration activities in Australia for three years.

Pearson Education Videos

The Division of Nursing and Midwifery was approached by publishers, Pearson Education to develop nursing skills videos as a companion to their text, Fundamentals of Nursing, Australian Edition. Three skills DVDs have been produced and are currently being used as a resource for a year one nursing unit. We are currently developing another  five DVDs.

Accreditation News

The Australian Physiotherapy Council has advised that full accreditation of the La Trobe Bachelor of Physiotherapy programs at Bundoora and Bendigo had been extended to 2012. The
Accreditation Panel report commended the School on many aspects of the accreditation submission and the quality of the physiotherapy program.

Social Work accreditation visit week of 17 August.

Awards

Congratulations to Robert Townsend, Social Work, Bendigo who has just had passed his PhD.

Anne Holland, Associate Professor of Physiotherapy at Alfred Health,
was recently awarded a Jack Brockhoff Foundation Churchill Fellowship. The fellowship will enable Anne to investigate new ways to deliver pulmonary rehabilitation to Australians with chronic lung disease using broadband technology.  She will travel to Norway, Spain, Scotland, Canada and the USA to visit world leaders in the provision of remote pulmonary rehabilitation via the internet.  Anne's project aims to address the shortage of pulmonary rehabilitation programs in regional and rural areas of Australia and to improve access to this essential service using new technologies. The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowships were presented at Government House by Governor de Kretser on 31st July.

Professor David de Kretser, Governor of Victoria, presenting award to Anne Holland.

Photo by Tegan Ringin.

Julie Bernhardt leads the Very Early Rehabilitation Research Program, a key aim of which is to determine the efficacy, cost effectiveness and mechanisms  of very early (<24 hours) and intensive exercise for people following stroke. The National Heart Foundation Career Development Awards are highly competitive. Julie was delighted  to receive an award, "to be named as the top ranked fellow for Victoria was incredibly exciting, particularly given that my research field is in the less prominent area of stroke".

Professor de Kretser presented Julie with the award at ceremony held at the National Heart Foundation head office in Melbourne. "Professor
de Kretser is an enthusiastic medical scientist and having him present the award and show interest in my research was a real thrill" Julie said.

Telmo Languiller, Parliamentary Secretary (left), and Professor David de Kretser, Governor of Victoria (right) with Julie Bernhardt.

Submission of Curriculum for Approval

The Division of Nursing and Midwifery has submitted four curriculum proposals to the Nurses Board of Victoria for approval, i.e. :

• The Bachelor of Nursing (Graduate Entry)


• The Bachelor of Nursing (Division 2 Conversion)


• The Bachelor of Nursing (Post-Registration)


• Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner)

Staff Changes

Professor Rhonda Nay is taking over as Director of the Australian Institute for Primary Care for the next 12 months. This role is in addition to Rhonda's leadership of ACEBAC and the Institute for Social Participation. Rhonda is replacing Assoc. Professor Peter Foreman, Associate Dean, International & Future Students in the Faculty.

Lorna Luke is ending a long career with the Australian Institute for Primary Care and La Trobe University. Her contribution over the years has been enormous and her absence will be deeply felt.

Shane O'Meara has been appointed to the position of Business
Manager within AIPC.

Mr Kevin Anslow, Admin Officer, Div of Nursing & Midwifery, Bundoora.

Ms Michelle Kuipers, Admin Officer, Alfred Clinical School.

Ms Joanna Lee, Research Assistant, Div of Nursing & Midifery, Bundoora.
Ms Sally Squire, Lecturer in Nursing, Albury-Wodonga. Professor Susan McDonald has been elected Co-Chair
International Confederation of Midwives Education Standing
Committee.

Student Achievements

Nicholas Gaynor, Masters of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) was recently endorsed by the Nurses Board of Victoria as a Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.

Rebecca Sedgman who completed her Masters of Nursing
(Nurse Practitioner) in June has been advised by the Nurses Board of Victoria that she has been endorsed as an Emergency Nurse Practitioner. Rebecca is the 50th nurse to be endorsed in Victoria!

Anne Booms a Masters of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner) student, will be presenting a paper entitled: "Breaking the Silence... Autism and Palliative Care: A case Study" at the 5th Australian College of Nurse Practitioners Conference.

There were six presentations by midwifery Masters students at the Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand Conference.  One of the students received the new investigator award for the best poster in midwifery.

Other Divisional News

The Division of Nursing & Midwifery hosted an Inaugural Nurse Educator
Workshop for sessional staff on 27 August 2009.

Alternate Format

• Dean's Report August 2009 (PDF 2.13MB)

Institute for Social Participation (ISP)
The interdisciplinary Institute for Social Participation has been approved by the University and the Dean responsible will be the Dean of Health Sciences. Rhonda Nay has been appointed Director.

Associate Professor Margarita Frederico and Maureen Long have been engaged by Child Wise (a community service organization working within and outside Australia in the Asia-Pacific region to prevent child abuse) to evaluate its Choose with Care – Family Education Strategy which provides a locality-specific community development program to raise awareness of child abuse.

Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) the lead Aboriginal child and family welfare in the state is developing a model of therapeutic residential care which will be implemented later in 2009.  Maureen Long is continuing her relationship with VACCA and has been engaged to work with the organization in the development of their therapeutic residential model.

Associate Professor Amaryll Perlesz has been awarded an ARC linkages grant titled: Work, Love and Play: Understanding resilience in same-sex parented families.  The research team includes Profs Margot Schofield, Marian Pitts, APDI Dr. Jen Power, Dr. Andrew Bickerdike, Relationships Australia, Dr. Ruth McNair, University of Melbourne and Rhonda Brown, Deakin University. The grant is worth $512,005 including contributions from Collaborating/Partner Organisations:  ACON (AIDS Council of NSW Inc); Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria; Relationships Australia Victoria; Victorian Health Promotion Foundation; Relationships Australia Inc and Queensland Association for Healthy Communities.  The success of this grant was in large part due to a Faculty of Health Sciences Research Grant that funded the pilot study.  

Della Forster is a chief investigator on a new VicHealth research project grant – Exploring alcohol use in pregnancy: what questions should we be asking? CIs: Halliday J, Forster D, Elliot E, Nagle C, O'Leary C, Wake M, Carlin J. (VicHealth 2009 – $105,032).

Rob Townsend (SW&SP –Bendigo Campus) was awarded a HEESP grant of $15,000 to map peer mentoring across the whole university and to develop a model for Peer Mentoring & Peer Tutoring which is applicable to all Faculties and all campuses of LTU.

The School of Social Work and Social Policy would like to welcome Research staff who are joining us through the funding of research projects of the School.  
Practice leadership and Active Support Grant (DHS) Chris Bigby and Research Assistant, Louise Mountford.

The efficacy of family mediation where family violence is present Linkage Grant (Helen Cleak) and Research Assistant, Michelle Doolan.

Take Two Research Team (DHS) (Margarita Frederico), Ndungi wa Mungai, Senior Research Officer.

Small Talk Project Research Officer (.8), Natasha Holt and Emma White who is currently a research assistant with Take Two one day per week will be .2 with this project.


Professor Hal Swerissen
Dean
Faculty of Health Sciences

Bendigo Faculty - A number of activities are occurring related to marketing and promotion. School visits have commenced, and year ten students are being targeted and are involved in activities on campus. We are working very closely with Bendigo Senior Secondary to develop innovative programs for student engagement.

Launch of the Beacon Strategy for Alcohol and Other Drug services has led to the engagement of 17 demonstration sites implementing family inclusive practices across the state. This is a three year project that has attracted interest in other service systems.

A 4-year Paramedic Bachelor/Master course has been approved and will commence in 2010.

A response to the 59.6 million dollar Education Investment Fund proposal for regional infrastructure is expected soon.

A large group of Podiatry students and staff volunteered time at the Oxfam Trailwalker in March (a 100km walk undertaken in 48 hours).  These types of events generate blisters the size of golf balls!

Nurse Practitioner

Kathy Tori, Lecturer in Nursing, Bendigo Campus was recently endorsed by the Nurses Board of Victoria as a Nurse Practitioner in the category of Emergency Care.

In March, for the Nurses and Midwives Board of NSW, Professor Merilyn Annells chaired two panels to assess candidates for endorsement as nurse practitioners.

The bioscience team took part in the accreditation of the public health graduate diploma for environmental health officers.
The following nursing and midwifery programs were recently approved as a ‘course of study’ by the Nurses Board of Victoria:

Undergraduate

• Bachelor of Nursing; and
• Bachelor of Nursing/ Bachelor of Midwifery;

Postgraduate

• Postgraduate Diploma in Nursing Science (Child, Family & Community);
• Master of Nursing Science (Child, Family & Community); and
• Postgraduate Diploma in Midwifery Science;

International

• Initial Registration for Overseas Nurses – Division 1; and
• Return to Practice – Division 1

Several ARCSHS staff and postgraduate students attended the IASSCS VII Conference “Contested Innocence – Sexual Agency in Public and Private Space” in Hanoi, Vietnam, 15-18 April 2009. Gary Dowsett was a Session Chair and presenter at the conference. ARCSHS staff and students Murray Couch, Lynne Hillier, Biswajit Banik, Gillian Fletcher, Stephen McNally, Linda Bennett, Michael Hurley, Julienne Corboz and Jo Grzelinska made presentations at the conference. Also in attendance were Jeffrey Grierson, Marian Pitts and Cuong La Manh.

The Faculty recently awarded Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning. Congratulations to Nora Shields, Physiotherapy for innovative and effective approaches to engaging physiotherapy students in learning and
Geraldine Lee, Nursing for the development and coordination of the Nurse Practitioner program and in particular the development of the Clinical Internship Model. Dr Shields’ project was further acknowledged by an award of a University Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning.

Dr Helen McLachlan and Michelle Newton presented papers at the 13th Annual Congress of the “Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand” held in Darwin 19-22 April.  Helen’s paper was entitled “An individual, flexible approach to postnatal care: a pilot project to inform the development of a randomised controlled trial”.  Michelle’s paper was entitled “Comparing burnout and satisfaction: a survey of caseload and non-caseload midwives”.

In January, Dr Helen McLachlan (Division of Nursing and Midwifery and Mother and Child Health Research) and Dr Della Forster (Mother and Child Health Research) were invited visiting academics at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Centre, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. They presented a series of lectures and consultations to academics in midwifery, nursing, obstetrics-gynaecology, general practice and public health.

Monica Peddle, Manger, Nursing Skills Laboratory Manger, co-delivered and facilitated in the short course “Introduction to Instruction and Facilitation in Simulation Education Program” at Box Hill Institute Nursing Skills Centre of Excellence (NSCE) 20 - 22 April 2009.

March 21-25, 2009: Professor Merilyn Annells was the Keynote Speaker and a Workshop Presenter at an International Conference, Community Oriented Health Care, organised by Central Taiwan University of Science & Technology, Taichung, Taiwan – and invited Guest Lecturer at Central Taiwan University of Science & Technology Speaker plus also at Tajen University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.

Bill McGuiness (Deputy Head, Nursing and Midwifery) has been successfully examined for his PhD thesis entitled: Using colour exhibited by venous leg ulcers to develop a range of hues that represent the clinical manifestations of erythema and wet necrotic tissue.

Two staff from the School of Human Communication Sciences, Dr Jacinta Douglas and Dr Miranda Rose, are part of a multi-university research team that has been awarded $2,495,200 for a new NHMRC Centre of Clinical Excellence (CCRE). The CCRE is in Aphasia Rehabilitation and the funding has been awarded for five years. Dr Douglas is a Chief Investigator for the CCRE and Dr Rose is an Associate Investigator.

Carol McKinstry and Dr Andrew Harvey have had in principle approval on their HEESP funding application (~$11,000) to undertake collaboration with Bendigo Senior Secondary College and Catholic College Bendigo around engaging local secondary school students with the Faculty.

Rob Townsend is conducting a fantastic peer mentoring program and has had in principle feedback on his HEESP funding application for program expansion.

The LTU School of Social Work and Social Policy, The Bouverie Centre and Melbourne School of Social Work with Take Two and VACCA have won a tender to provide two courses for Department of Human Services Child Protection workers, funded by the Department. These are a Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Practice and a Graduate Diploma in Child and Family Practice Leadership. The course curricula are currently being developed and the first cohorts of at least 30 students in each course will commence in August of this year. The collaboration between the consortia members has already proved mutually beneficial.

 Dr Amanda Kenny chaired sessions at the Nurse Education Tomorrow Conference at Churchill College Cambridge UK from the 1st to the 4th of September.

The Faculty is continuing its school visits program for 2008 and there is a great deal of enthusiasm amongst the regional secondary school population about the new course structure.

Occupational Therapy continues to market to prospective students, with strong interest at the Bendigo and Shepparton campus Open Days. OT will take its first intake in Bendigo in 2009.

Our first intake of oral health students completed their course this year and an informal graduation ceremony was held at the Visual Arts Centre. Students will receive their degrees at the formal ceremony in May 2009. Professor Mark Tennant attended from Perth to congratulate the students. The significant contribution that Professor Tennant made in establishing the oral health program was acknowledged.

Nursing, oral health and occupational therapy continue to have discussions with the international office about prospective students from China and Malaysia.

Discussions are continuing with Bendigo Regional Institute of TAFE regarding possibilities for articulation.

Carol McKinstry has written an article on the new allied health courses at Bendigo Campus in 2009 for the Loddon Mallee Allied Health Network Newsletter.

This year the NSW Peak body, Association for Child Welfare Agencies (ACWA), focussed their Management and Leadership Institute Colloquia on the challenges of climate change. Chaired by Dr Jennifer Lehmann from La Trobe's Bendigo Campus, the day's program titled 'Leading in a Changing Climate: Green imperatives for community service governance, advocacy and client work' enjoyed strong attendance and engaged staff and managers of not for profit organisations in tackling some of the complex issues that are already impacting upon organisations in this sector.

Jennifer, together with other guest speakers, presented on aspects of climate change that are likely to affect service delivery, client participation and management in the coming years. Energy use, transport for outreach and access, and the use of technology were a few of the topics covered. Given the not for profit sector is largely reliant on funding through government contracts, and governments are beginning to address environmental footprints, carbon trading and other climate change related issues, this Colloquia marked the beginning of closer attention to the potential changes that will be required in the coming years and was a landmark occasion.

The School of Social Work and Social Policy conducted a "Writing for Publication" Seminar for academic staff and students on 16 September. There were 30 participants from 3 campuses. Presenters included Professor Allan Borowski, Associate Professor Christine Bigby and Dr Jennifer Lehmann.

Associate Professor Christine Bigby, Dr Tim Clement and Ian McLean, are pictured with other recipients of Partnership grants awarded by the Office of the Senior Practitioner. The grants are designed to support the creation and implementation of new strategies for people with a disability who are subject to restrictive and compulsory treatment—to prevent them harming themselves and others or destroying property. The successful partnership project is between La Trobe University, School of Social Work and Social Policy and Golden City Support Services, for evaluating a reputed exemplary residential support service for people with severe intellectual disability and challenging behaviour.

Congratulations to Bill McGuiness, Deputy Head, Nursing and Midwifery who was recently appointed as an honorary Wound Clinical Nurse Consultant at The Alfred Hospital. The appointment is viewed the same as a medical honorary and includes practice, research and teaching privileges. This is a first for nursing in the State and the appointment will provide opportunities to continue the development of this specialisation with the Division.

Naomi Mason, BSW(Hons) was joint winner of the Albury-Wodonga Campus medal and the Helen Horton memorial Prize

Cath Norris (BSW yr 4) was winner of the Albury City leadership prize

Cath Bryan (BSW yr 4) was winner of the Lisa Malone Scholarship

2nd year nursing student, Christopher Mullins was a member of the successful 4×100m T35-38 relay team that won gold in world record time at the Beijing Paralympics.

John Mccormack from Social Work is an invited guest at the Max Planck sponsored 7th Workshop on Supercentenarians in Montreal on 28th September 2008

In recent months ARCSHS had the following funding successes:

Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing confirmed to continue for three years starting 2008-2009 financial year $812,000 per annum

AusAID for the Capacity Building of research in South East Asian and Pacific regions as one of nine members of a Consortium confirmed $1,200,000 over three years

AusAID for the Targeted HIV Social Research Program focussed on people living with HIV/AIDS, and young people in South East Asian and Pacific regions. $650,000 over three years

Queensland Health Department tender for the evaluation and reporting of outcomes of the Hepatitis C shared care initiative in Queensland, with an invitation to extend the cope of that project from ten to fifteen hospitals. $57,819 for initial work in 2008-2009

Health Corporate Network tender to create Parent Sexual Health Resources in Western Australia for sex education in schools. Project involves conducting research into what parents want, followed by creation of the actual resource: $87,025 – 2008

Beyond Blue (ceded) to investigate depression in the GLBTI Community $15,000 - 2008

Bristol-Myers Squibb invitation for a Hepatitis B project. $50,000 – 2008

UNAIDS Research for the Commission on AIDS in the Pacific $75,000 – 2008

Prof Marian Pitts, Dr Jeffrey Grierson and Karalyn McDonald (presenting posters) and Prof Gary Dowsett attended the XVII International AIDS Conference, Mexico City.

Recent research staff appointments include Dr Catherine Barrett, Julienne Coboz, Duane Duncan, Dr Penny Johnson, Anthony Lyons, Jennifer Power and Roz Ward.

Assoc Prof Anne Mitchell appeared on the Network Seven Sunrise program as part of a story for parents about how to have a conversation with sons and daughters about sexuality. Anne was also interviewed by Derryn Hinch on 3AW radio about the comments of Jeff Kennett likening bisexuality to paedophilia.

Post Doctoral Fellow Brian McCoy’s book Holding Men: Kanyirninpa and the health of Aboriginal Men was launched in July at the University of Melbourne and simultaneously in Alice Springs. Brian was subject of a Profile feature in The Age newspaper in connection with the launch which was a big success, attended by a large cross section of key personnel.

The Gay and Lesbian Health Victoria (GLHV) Clearinghouse received the HONCode award in May, which was presented by Health on the Net, a Swiss based NGO backed by the World Health Organization. The organisation maintains a register of accredited websites that offer health and medical information. The GLHV Clearinghouse met the eight criteria required to receive accreditation.

Prof Marian Pitts gave a presentation entitled “The Role of Social Research in Australia’s HIV response” to H.E. Mr Truong Vinh Trong, Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, as part of his study visit to review Australia’s response to HIV and drug use in May.

Prof Marian Pitts attended the 3rd AOGIN (Asia-Oceania Research Organisation in Genital Infection and Neoplasia) Conference in Seoul, South Korea.

The conference focused on cervical cancer, HPV, and HPV vaccinations, people’s knowledge of and attitudes towards sex and the vaccinations. A large number of people from the medical profession attended.

Hello I'm Hal Swerissen, the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences.

The Faculty offers an exciting and diverse range of professional and research education and health sciences and Human services.

We have programs in metropolitan Melbourne and our regional campuses at Mildura, Bendigo, Shepparton and Albury Wodonga. Our programs are designed to be flexible, we have a pathway direct from school into our professional degrees. Our first year is common across a range of courses so there are opportunities to transfer to another course in second year. Graduates with a relevant degree can go directly into our graduate entry Masters program, for courses like Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology. We also offer a range of research programs, postgraduate masters degrees and professional doctorates.

Details on these programs are available through this website. I encourage you to explore your options in Health Sciences at La Trobe. Professional programs in Health Sciences provide fantastic career opportunities, which are portable across Australia and Internationally. Please don't hesitate to contact us if you need further information or if you want to give us feedback, contact details are available on this website.

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