Award winning team fast tracks students to vital health careers
A team of CQUniversity academics have been named as joint recipients of the Australian Council of Deans of Health Sciences (ACDHS) Allied Health Education Innovation Award, recognising their pioneering contributions to the field of allied health education.
Led by Associate Professor Melanie Hayman, along with Dr Davina Taylor, Dr Thomas Doering, Minka Elliot, Trudy Jones, and Deb Friel, the team shared the prestigious accolade with Associate Professor Dan Malone of Monash University.
The winners were announced at the 2024 ACDHS symposium held in Melbourne on 24 October.
The event celebrated the outstanding achievements of the industry’s top allied health and education professionals across three categories - First Nations Leadership/Engagement, Research Impact and Education Innovation.
Associate Professor Hayman said the team were honoured to receive the Education Innovation award for their curriculum redesign which embeds CQU’s Vocational Education and Training (VET) Certificate III in Allied Health Assistance into the first year of undergraduate health science courses.
"Our team is the first in Australia to embed a VET qualification across multiple higher education (HE) courses in this way. First year Bachelor students in Allied Health, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Podiatry, and Speech Pathology will benefit from our embedded award.
“By integrating the Certificate III qualification into degree pathways, students can gain early entry into the allied health workforce, helping to address critical workforce shortages impacting the Australian healthcare system, particularly in regional and remote communities," Assoc Prof Hayman said.
“As a result of embedding the Certificate III qualification, students now experience a more student-centred, skills-integrated study pathway by engaging in additional authentic learning, including simulated and work-integrated (WIL) experiences in their first year of HE study.
“As a further benefit to students, embedding the Certificate III qualification provides a novel exit pathway for those who face extenuating challenges or no longer wish to pursue a bachelor-level qualification after their first year of study.”
