Subjects at A level

Biology
Chemistry
Social Science
Management
Statistics
Physics

Learning Resources

Research Writing

Academic Writing

Choosing & Applying for University

CV Writing

Navigating Career Path Options

Business School

Interviews

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Description:

Introduction to degree course was developed in response to high dropout and failure rates of university students. The program fully supports successful progression of students from high school to undergraduate study and beyond. This course introduces students to a degree, giving students a frame work and direction in their area of study. We are well aware that if students fail to understand the foundation of the subject they are likely to lose interest in the subject that is why this course was designed to make it easier for students. The course is equipped with most of the learning materials required by students to understand their degree program.

This course was developed in consultation with universities at global. The course is designed to give students a deeper knowledge and understanding of the degree. The course is designed to enhance the creativity and critical thinking skills that are needed by students to develop their own ideas at University standard. Taking students step by step, to simplify and to explain the degree.

The course equips students with the knowledge needed to make an informed decision before starting and during your studies enabling students to plan ahead, minimizing student failure rates. The process makes knowledge transfer easier between students, universities, professionals, employers and research institutes The aim of this course is not just to make learning easier, but also to help put qualification in to use. We understand that most students at Universities fail not because they are “dumb” but, because they don’t get to understand what they are required to do.

Key Modules:

1: Health Promotions

This module covers social and behaviour issues in public health. The concept of environment and environmental crisis; What is environmental education; Emerging responses to public health crises ; Public health education theories and processes; Methods of identifying environmental and health issues; Values and benefits; Issues for the educators and facilitators; Behaviour change theories and models, theory of planned behaviour, social cognitive theory, health belief model, Social Ecological Model (SEM), advocacy, social mobilisation, phases of social mobilisation process, communication for development, advocacy, social mobilisation, social change communication, designing behaviour change communication programmes, designing communication strategies, importance of social norms, 7 C`s of effective health communication, situation analysis /needs assessment, target population characteristics, monitoring and evaluation.

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2: HIV and AIDS Counselling and Management

Introduction to HIV/AIDS and counselling; Historical perspective of HIV/AIDS; Biology of HIV; Socio-cultural impact of HIV/AIDS; Sources of HIV/AIDS infection; HIV/AIDS and the environment; HIV/AIDS in relationships; HIV/AIDS in developing countries and special populations; HIV/AIDS and Home-based care; Ethics in Counselling; Introduction to Selected Theories; Communication in Counselling; Advocacy; and The Counselling Process. Managing Responses to HIV/AIDS; Strategies for HIV/AIDS Projects; Human Resource Management; Human Rights; Managing the spread of HIV/AIDS and health problems; Policy and legal issues in HIV/AIDS and health; Management strategies for health problems; Managing the psychosocial factors in HIV/AIDS and health; Managing human and financial resources for health; Managing health and HIV/AIDS research.

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3: Parasitology and Microbiology

The module covers the introduction to parasitism and parasitic diseases; Viral; Bacterial; Protozoan parasites; Helminthic parasites; Metazoan parasites; Epidemiology of parasitism; Host responses to parasites; Local effects of parasitism; Diagnostic methods; and chemotherapy of infections. The study of different prokaryotic organisms, their morphology, anatomy, classifications, genetics, ecology, metabolism and control along with a brief survey of human diseases caused by them. Laboratory work on their identification and growth methods.

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4: Emergency Preparedness and Response Planning

The course will extensively cover concepts and principles of Emergence Preparedness and Response (EPR): Understanding the terminology in EPR; Classification of hazards; Hazards characterisation; Disaster risk management; Disaster preparedness; Principles of emergency preparedness; Emergency response planning principles; Types of plans; Hazard mapping; The planning process and different planning approaches; Mitigation of disasters; Mitigation strategies; Hazard identification and vulnerability assessment; Disaster and vulnerability in Zimbabwe; Evaluation of emergency support services; The role of different stakeholders in disaster management; Response to disasters; Recovery after disasters; Recent emergencies/disasters; Disaster and development; Conventions on prevention of major disasters and local statutes on emergency preparedness and response; Recovery, reconstruction and rehabilitation. Epidemic preparedness and response. Legal framework governing EPRP.

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5: Public Health Administration

Principles and practice of management, Theories and Models of leadership and Management, Effective leadership and management in health, Management of change and complexity, Management ethics and accountability, Introduction to financial management, Analysing and interpreting financial statement, Human Capital approach, Recruitment, selection, employment practices, Labour legislation and relations, Managing Performance, Value Creation and Measuring performance, Root-cause analysis, Supply chain management, Negotiation and conflict management. Communication; Partnerships in health; Project management.

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6: Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Health

The module covers knowledge systems (general perspective, Global knowledge matrix) Nonformal local or ?indigenous? knowledge; special characteristics of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), the nature of indigenous knowledge (IK) and indigenous technology (IT); preserving indigenous knowledge, indigenous knowledge systems and the intellectual property, protecting indigenous knowledge against inappropriate patents. the role Indigenous Knowledge and Innovation Systems for public health in Africa. International programmes that collect and attempt to analyse and streamline IKS (World Bank indigenous knowledge systems initiatives) application of IKS in public health; Challenges of utilisation of IKS in public health; Indigenous knowledge and colonisation (the discourse); working with indigenous knowledge in research. IKS and public health in Zimbabwe; Gender; Social inclusion

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7: Communicable Diseases

The module covers the definition of communicable diseases, the history (measles, Polio, Malaria, respiratory diseases). Human-animal interactions in the spread of diseases. Vectors and their control. Disease outbreaks and their control measures. Disease to include those of importance to Africa and in particular Zimbabwe and the region e.g., malaria, trypanosomiasis, schistosomiasis, fascioliasis Emerging diseases e.g., SARS and bird flu, haemorrhagic fevers, etc. and strategies for their control. Designing intervention programmes, Monitoring and evaluation of intervention programmes (e.g., vaccinations, awareness campaigns etc).

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8: Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Epidemiology of environmental diseases in human populations: physical and biological agents, pathogenesis; vector control; agent, host, environmental interaction and control; communicable diseases of importance. Purpose and methods of investigating epidemiology: important variables and attributes; population samples, fieldwork techniques. Analysis and presentation of epidemiology statistics and control measures. Risk factor analysis; case studies. Epidemics. Biological Threats (e.g. Anthrax terrorism). Descriptive and inferential statistics. Communicable and non-communicable diseases of importance

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9: Food Hygiene and Nutrition

This module covers food hygiene (sanitary operational procedures, good manufacturing practice); Food Microbiology; Biochemistry; Food Poisoning Foodborne pathogens; Infectious pathogens, where they come from, and the diseases they cause. Toxigenic pathogens, the nature of the toxins they produce, and the symptoms of the illnesses caused.; Planning of Food Service Premises; Production, contamination, preservation. Fundamentals of food preservation: refrigeration, freezing, thermal processing, dehydration and concentration, natural and chemical preservation techniques and fermentation. The management of food safety to include the role of sampling, monitoring, audits and inspections. Practical application of the principles and practice of HACCP. Microbiological criteria, hygiene control measures and Codex Alimentarius, spoilage and inspection of the different food types; Food Premises Auditing; Food quality and safety assurance, Food Safety Management System (ISO22000); Food Hygiene Management System, SABS 049:1989, SAZ; HACCP in Practice; Nutrition; Food Legislation. Food security, Maternal and child nutrition, nutrition in emergencies, nutrition programme planning, evaluation and monitoring, and nutritional epidemiology; food fortification.

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10: Pollution Prevention and Control

This module covers the general overview of pollution: Air, Land and Water pollution. Sources of pollution: Natural and Man-made. Chemical and biological pollutants. Biological and Chemical hazards. Overview of atmospheric chemistry: Acid rain, CFCs and ozone depletion: photochemical smog, Greenhouse gases and global warming. Radiation pollution: Ionizing and non-ionizing radiation; Radioactivity and radiation; sources and types of ionizing radiation; natural and manmade radiation; Radioactive wastes and its disposal; Radiation pollution monitoring. Pollution Prevention and control. International, Regional and National legal aspects of pollution prevention and control.

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11: Geographic Information Systems for Public Health

This course offers an introduction to basic principles of GIS and further covers how it is applied in public health domain. The main purpose of this course is to teach the core concepts GIS and to provide students with the skills to capture, store, prepare/ manipulate and analyse spatial data for studies in public health. Students will be taught on how to use GIS to assess exposures to environmental pollution and/ risks, and explore and analyse disease patterns and produce informative maps for use in public health domain. The course scope will also cover to methods for linking geographical and attribute (health data) for public health risk assessment. An overview of the interlink between GIS, GPS and Remote sensing will also be covered.

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12: Water, Sanitation and Hygiene

This course aims to provide students with information on the basic requirements for an effective and sustainable water and sanitation programmes in rural, peri-urban and urban areas. This will involve an introduction to Water and Wastewater Management principles, concepts and tools. The course will cover the theoretical and practical basis of sampling, physico-chemical analysis, microbiological analysis and bio monitoring for water quality determination. It will deal with designing and implementation of hygienic sanitation facilities at different levels i.e., rural, peri-urban and urban setups. The course would go on further to explore Public Health implication of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices in different set ups. WASH partnerships; gender and social inclusion; sanitation approaches; institutional arrangements in WASH (at district, provincial and national levels); WASH governance; International WASH Standards, SPHERE project

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13: Health and Safety

This course seeks to introduce students to a broad spectrum of safety concerns that impact on the health of different populations. Occupational health and safety conventions, recommendations, principles, policies and legislation; Hazard identification and measurement, risk assessment and control; industrial toxicology; occupational diseases, conditions and injuries; ergonomics; accident investigation and prevention; occupational health and safety management systems; community and household environmental, health and safety hazards, risks and/or impacts and their control will form the core topics to this course. Safety of vulnerable populations.

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14: Waste Management

The course provides a basic understanding of principal technical issues regarding solid, liquid and hazardous waste management. It explores both domestic and international perspectives on solid, liquid and hazardous waste management covering the key functional elements of appropriate methods for storage, collection, transfer, treatment/transformation and final disposal of solid waste in both industrialised and developing countries. Students will be taught how scientific concepts and principles are applied in management of hazardous and municipal solid waste (MSW) to protect human health and the environment and conserve natural resources through resource recovery and recycling of waste material. Topics to be covered include the integrated solid waste management hierarchy (ISWMH); characterization and properties of MSW; hazardous waste (health care, chemical and radioactive waste); sewage sludge, composting and recycling of waste materials and final disposal methods (i.e., dumping, incineration and landfilling) of solid waste. Guidelines for siting, design, construction, operation, monitoring, remedial actions, and closure of landfills.

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15: Health Systems and Policies

Provides students with a comprehensive understanding of the organization, management, and policy frameworks within healthcare systems. It explores the structures, functions, and dynamics of health systems at local, national, and international levels. The module examines the various components that contribute to effective health systems, including healthcare financing, governance, service delivery, workforce development, and health information systems.

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16: Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

The course provides an overview of health impact assessments to design, evaluate, and replicate sustainable projects and programs. The course will cover the following broad topics: Concepts and issues in health management; Purposes of HIA; Statutory provisions of HIA; HIA administration; The HIA process; Prospectus development; Screening; Scoping; Impact identification; Impact assessment (techniques and analysis tools); Mitigation measures; the HIA report; draft HIA review; Public participation in HIA; Monitoring and Evaluation of development programs and projects; Costs and benefits of undertaking HIA, Understanding the strengths and limitations of HIA and Case studies from the SADC region and Zimbabwe.

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17: Toxicology

This module focuses on sources, types and properties of toxicants; Molecular biochemical, physiological and behavioural responses of organisms to toxicants; Toxicology and toxicokinetics; Transportation and fate in the environment; Metabolism and fate within humans and animals; Biomagnification; Bioaccumulation; Dose responses and other toxicological concepts; Biomonitoring and biomarkers; and Ecological risk assessment

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18: Maternal and Child Health

Child health is very critical as an indicator of population health. Students would be introduced to different programs meant to ensure good health. Students would be introduced to different indicators used in measuring child health (infant Mortality Rates, maternal Mortality Rates. Different programs relating to child and maternal health would be discussed. These would include but not limited to immunisation, Integrated Management of Neonatal and Childhood illnesses (IMNCI), PPTCT (Prevention of Parent to Child Transmission of HIV and AIDS (PMTCT), Antenatal and Post Natal Care, Cancers. Management of moderate and acute malnutrition.

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19: Global Health

This course introduces students to Global Health issues. Global Health will be defined and then the course delves into Global aspects of Health issues. These will include impact of factors such as poverty, inequality and inequities on access to Health. Patent rules of the World Trade Organisation and Pharmaceutical company interests and their impact on Global Health would be discussed. The course would further explore changing nature of Global Health problems being faced and the challenges in managing them.

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20: Occupational Health

This module focuses on identifying and managing health risks in the workplace. It covers topics such as occupational hazards, workplace safety, ergonomics, occupational diseases, and strategies for promoting worker health and well-being.

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21: Mental Health Promotion

This module explores strategies for promoting mental health and well-being at the individual, community, and population levels. It covers topics such as mental health promotion interventions, mental health stigma, mental health policy and advocacy, and the integration of mental health into public health programs.

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22: Health Behavior Change

Focuses on theories and strategies for promoting health behavior change in individuals and communities. It covers topics such as health behavior theories, behavior change interventions, motivational interviewing, health communication, and the social determinants of health behavior.

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23: Environmental Health

Explores the impact of the environment on human health. It covers topics such as environmental risk assessment, air and water pollution, waste management, environmental toxicology, climate change and health, and the role of environmental health in disease prevention.

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24: Health Promotion Planning and Evaluation

This module provides students with skills in planning, implementing, and evaluating health promotion programs. It covers topics such as needs assessment, program design and implementation, evaluation methods, health promotion ethics, and the role of stakeholders in program planning.

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25: Health Equity and Social Justice

Examines the social determinants of health and strategies for promoting health equity and social justice. It covers topics such as health disparities, social and economic determinants of health, health policy and advocacy, and the role of community engagement in addressing health inequities.

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26: Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance

Focuses on preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters. It covers topics such as disaster risk assessment, emergency response planning, disaster management frameworks, humanitarian assistance, and the role of public health in disaster response.

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27: Health Promotion in Aging Populations

Examines health promotion strategies specifically tailored to older adults. It covers topics such as age-related health issues, preventive healthcare for older adults, promoting healthy aging, and the challenges and opportunities in providing healthcare for aging populations.

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28: Health Policy Analysis

This module examines the development, implementation, and evaluation of health policies. It covers topics such as policy analysis frameworks, health policy formulation, policy implementation and evaluation, health policy advocacy, and the role of stakeholders in shaping health policy.

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29: Community Health Assessment

Focuses on assessing the health needs and assets of communities. It covers topics such as community health data collection and analysis, community assessment methods, engaging community stakeholders, identifying health disparities, and using assessment data to inform health interventions.

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30: Health Promotion in Vulnerable Populations

This module examines health promotion approaches tailored to vulnerable and marginalized populations. It covers topics such as health disparities, social determinants of health, cultural competence, community engagement, and addressing the unique health needs of populations such as refugees, immigrants, and LGBTQ+ communities.

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