RMIT, govt to launch digital health courses

Employees of government health departments looking to upskill will soon be able to take advantage of three new micro-credential courses in digitally enabled healthcare.

RMIT Online and the Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre have jointly launched the courses, which will be designed to embed digital health practices in Australia’s health system.

The courses — which cover technology enabled care, healthcare design, and digital health strategy and change management respectively — have been developed in partnership with Queensland Health, Canteen, Telstra Health and RMIT’s Health Transformation Lab.

With the initiative, the partners seek to address skills shortages in digital health, change management and patient care, and to address the most in-demand skills required to keep up with the rapid pace of technology in the sector.

RMIT Online CEO Helen Souness said the COVID-19 crisis has underscored the critical need for health systems worldwide to adopt technologies that deliver better patient care and curb health costs.

“The healthcare sector employs more than one in 10 working Australians and is going to continue to grow, with another quarter of a million jobs being created between now and 2024,” she said.

“Currently skills gaps in key areas like digital health, change management and remote patient care are holding us back. These skills are critical to enable innovation and transformation in the healthcare sector, so we need to address all three at once.

This initiative marks the first time a CRC has teamed up with a major Australian technical university to create micro-credentials relevant to the CRC’s sector.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/thicha