27 April 2020
The University of Melbourne‘s “Communicating COVID-19″ course is designed for a wide range of healthcare providers both in hospital and community settings and will help provide expert-informed answers to questions Australian health care practitioners face surrounding coronavirus (COVID-19).
Hospital clinicians, GPs, pharmacists, nursing and allied health staff, aged care workers, and disability care workers are all part of the intended audience . Elements of this course can be adapted for primary and secondary school teachers and for the general public.
Associate Professor Rosemary McKenzie, Director of Teaching and Learning from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health says there is a need in both the general community and the healthcare community to deliver digestible, focused core knowledge on COVID-19 drawing on epidemiology, clinical science, ethics and legal expertise.
“While everyone is talking about COVID-19, healthcare professionals may feel underprepared to explain diverse, complex questions from patients, colleagues and the general public, Associate Professor McKenzie said.”
“Healthcare professionals are trusted members of the community and by responding to questions about the pandemic they build confidence in the community.
“This course will empower participants to learn the language of pandemic and at the same time to form responses simply and confidently.
“Offered for free and online, this course is a genuine leap forward in better understanding COVID-19 and how to communicate it effectively. The topics we cover include the most basic of questions about masks and sneezing to discussions around the development of vaccines and the likely direction of the pandemic.”
Topics covered in the course include:
- Clinical presentation of COVID-19: “I woke up with a runny nose. Do I have the coronavirus?”
- Measurement and modelling in COVID-19: “What’s all this about flattening the curve?”
- Prevention of COVID-19: “Should I wear a mask to go outside?”
- The science of COVID-19: “What’s a coronavirus?”
- Testing in COVID-19: “Someone on the train sneezed today. Can you please test me?”
- Risk factors in COVID-19: “If I get coronavirus, am I going to die?”
- Managing patients with COVID-19: “I’ve tested positive for the coronavirus. What now?”
- Vaccinology, endgames and the future of COVID-19: “When will this all end?”
Visit the University of Melbourne for more information.
Read the media release.
