This is a specific multidisciplinary qualification available for those engaged in the delivery of primary health care.
The Postgraduate Diploma in Primary Health Care (PGDipPHC) provides an appropriate multidisciplinary programme for students who complete a core paper in primary care and then select papers from a wide range of disciplines relevant to primary care. As well as the core paper, it is strongly recommended that students include at least one of the Research Methods papers, and/or 'Te Tühauora Māori Health', and/or 'Evidence-based Medicine' within their diploma, since these papers provide a framework for study in the other optional papers.
The programme provides for the education and training of primary health care workers in order that these professionals acquire a deeper understanding of the structure, process and context of primary health care in New Zealand. Candidates will acquire skills to anticipate, plan for, and evaluate future changes to the delivery of primary health care and understand the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. It provides a formal nationally recognised qualification for primary health care workers.
Students are required to seek advice on programme structure at an early stage.
Graduates of the programme will have undertaken an approved course which is specifically focused towards primary health care, and will have acquired specific skills to enable them to deliver and if appropriate, practise safe, effective, and culturally sensitive care in that discipline. As the students will come from differing backgrounds (e.g. medical, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, management) these skills may be oriented towards management, clinical practice, basic primary health care research or a combination of these.
As a consequence of the multidisciplinary nature of the programme, the graduate will gain a sound appreciation of team dynamics in the primary health care setting. The team approach, now so essential to professional practitioners in primary health care, will be fostered and confirmed. He or she will have a sound understanding of the nature and practice of primary health care, advanced clinical training in personally selected areas of practice, and experience in working with a variety of health professionals involved in primary health care.
