Health Sciences

China Health Program

Short Course Training for China Health Sectors Capability Statement

Background

Since 1997, China has accelerated its reform in health sector, involving changes in arrangement for health insurance, primary health care, pharmaceutical, health organisation ownership, public health services, and health governance. Meanwhile, the MOH has been aware of the need for a new approach for workforce development, in particular, with related to the new knowledge and skill requirements for all health service managers and the training for community health workers such as general practitioners and community nurses. According to the MOH, all managers will access no less than three months training.

The La Trobe University China Health Program has been involved in health management training in China for the last decade. We have worked in a range of different cities and settings. The La Trobe China Health Program is well placed to contribute to the implementation of the MOH Policy on the Training of Health Service Managers and Community Health Service Workforce.

Teaching staff

The La Trobe China Health Program is based in the School of Public Health at La Trobe. This School is one of the largest schools of public health in Australia with a very good reputation in health services management, health policy and health promotion (among other fields). In addition to the School, extensive public health research is conducted by the Australian Institute for Primary Care, the Australian Centre for Research in Sex, Health and Society, the Mothers and Children’s Health Research Centre and the Centre for Refugee Health.

It is a feature of the policy and management departments of the School that they are staffed by people who have been practitioners, such as senior managers and leading policy makers as well as being teachers and researchers.

We have very strong capacity in bilingual teaching. Our bilingual teachers have extensive teaching and research experience in China; have been senior academic staff in top Chinese universities, and have overseas doctoral degrees.

Our principles

We are committed to building long term relationships (based on mutual respect and mutual benefit) with leading Chinese universities and national centres/institutes. Our teaching draws upon international movements in theory and practice but in a ways which recognise and accommodate the specific issues and circumstances of China.

We see ourselves as participating in the challenges of health sector reform in China through our teaching and research. Our teaching is informed by our research; our research is supported by our teaching.

Our teaching philosophy

We are committed to research based curriculum, interactive teaching, drawing on and building upon students’ experience, knowledge and understandings, shared inquiry, practical focus of teaching, critical inquiry, multiple teaching and learning strategies tailored to the different kinds of knowledge, skills and attitudes we are seeking to impart.

Teaching resources

Over the last ten years we have assembled a large collection of teaching resources including bilingual lectures and specialist readings in Chinese and English. Much of our teaching is based on the use of CDs which provide easy access to our lectures and readings.

In association with our academic partners in China we are presently writing a series of monographs on health policy and health management in China. Three volumes of this series have been published.

These monographs will bring together contemporary international thinking in health management with the specifics of the current situation in China. They will address issues of human resource management, health information management, financial management in health care, quality and performance in health care and policy analysis and development in health care.

Mode of delivery

Training will be provided mainly based on Bundoora campus of La Trobe University. Field visits will be arranged with respect to specific themes.

Further information

For further information about customised courses and costs contact Dr George Liu.

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