International flavour to UQ graduation ceremony in Brisbane
A University of Queensland graduation ceremony for Nutrition, Tropical Health, and Public Health programs today, Friday March 19, will have a strong international flavour.
Degree recipients include students from Hong Kong, Indonesia, New Zealand, China, the United States, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Kiribati, Canada, United Kingdom, Kazakhstan, Tonga, Fiji, and Bangladesh.
The ceremony, organised by the Australian Centre for International and Tropical Health and Nutrition (ACITHN) and the Public Health Program of the University's Social and Preventive Medicine Department, will be at the Westpac Auditorium, Bancroft Centre, 300 Herston Road, Herston, starting at 3.45pm.
ACITHN combines the teaching and research strengths of the University's Tropical Health, Nutrition and Indigenous Health Programs with the Tropical Health section of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.
This will also be a particularly memorable day for double prizewinners, Joel Dulhunty of Australia, and Keflemariam Yohannes of Eritrea, now an Australian citizen.
They are co-winners of the ACTM Medal, sponsored by the Australasian College of Tropical Medicine, which recognises outstanding academic performance in the master of tropical health program.
With Chaibai Kourleoutov of Kazakhstan, and Tevita Manuopangai of Tonga they also share the 1999 Garry Quayle Memorial Prize for excellence in student research.
This master of tropical health field group conducted a study entitled: Malaria caught in the net: A study of people's perceptions of malaria, mosquitoes and bed nets in Malaita, Solomon Islands.
Field studies are an integral part of the Tropical Health Program. The students work in groups of three or four in collaboration with institutions in Thailand, the Philippines or the Solomon Islands.
Other master of community nutrition and master of tropical health field work topics this year included studies of iodine deficiency anaemia in Selangor, Malaysia; weaning diarrhoea, weaning food and water contamination in Khon Kaen, Thailand; and motor cycle helmet use in Khon Kaen.
University Deputy Chancellor Robert Wensley QC will award two PhDs, six masters of community nutrition, seven masters of tropical health, 20 masters of public health, two postgraduate diplomas in community nutrition, a postgraduate diploma in tropical health, and eight postgraduate diplomas in public health and eight graduate certificates in tropical health.
Student valedictorian at the ceremony will be master of public health graduand Cecelia Boyd, whose dissertation project examined the role of health care services in providing support for early breast cancer patients. Ms Boyd is a clinical nurse researcher at the Mater Hospital and Australian Catholic University. She has a particular interest in early detection and treatment of cancer.
Ms Boyd said diagnosis of breast cancer could cause physiological and psychosocial distress, affecting a woman's health, every-day activities, self esteem, sexuality and relationships.
"The lack of social support has been associated with a range of serious problems, while effective support promotes adjustment to breast cancer," she said.
"Formal health care services play a major role in providing support but many women are unaware of the services available. It is important that health care providers (a) adequately assess individual needs for referral to support services and (b) routinely provide women with information on the support services available."
Guest speaker at today's ceremony will be Dr Rae Walker of the School of Public Health, La Trobe University, who will discuss the importance of collaboration at both the individual and institutional levels in public health programs.
The Master of Public Health program (MPH), run through the Queensland Centre for Public Health, is based at Brisbane's three metropolitan campuses - the University of Queensland, Griffith University and Queensland University of Technology. The University of Queensland commenced teaching the program in 1991. Since 1993, 89 master of public health degrees have been awarded, and a further 20 will be awarded today.
A major new development in 1997 was flexible delivery of the program and improved access to MPH throughout Queensland. Electronic communication has opened up this professional training to people in the most remote areas of the State, as well as interstate and overseas students.
The move into external delivery and previous experience with consortium partners also enabled the Program to expand its horizons further and move in new directions in 1998. The University of Queensland, in a consortium with four Victorian universities, successfully tendered for the contract to provide a Corporate Awards Program in Public Health for the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care. Of the 12 subjects on offer, six are being provided by the University of Queensland, using a mix of external delivery and block teaching at the students' workplaces in Canberra.
Topics for MPH dissertations this year ranged from sharps injury and body fluid exposure among health care workers; to infertility; to methods for accessing young people from marginalised groups.
The Tropical Health Program is a joint program of the University of Queensland and the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. It is committed to supporting the development of health services staff working in South-East Asia, the South Pacific and the developing world generally.
The master of community nutrition, one of the few courses of its kind in the world, is co-ordinated by the University of Queensland and involves collaboration with universities in Thailand and Malaysia.
Eight months of course work are completed in Brisbane followed by field work in rural and urban areas of South-East Asia.
The candidates graduating today are from China, the United States, Australia, Thailand the United Kingdom.
Representatives of international institutions collaborating with the Nutrition Program and the Tropical Health Program, from the Khon Kaen University in Thailand, Mahidol University in Thailand, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the University of Papua New Guinea, will attend the ceremony.
For further information, contact Mary Okello (Tropical Health Program, telephone 3365 5393) or Dr Peter O'Rourke (Public Health Program, telephone 3365 5335).
