Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Social Practice (Level 8)

This programme is designed to extend and deepen professional knowledge and skills in the fields of health and social practice which include: occupational therapy, nursing, midwifery, social work, counselling and human services. It will offer learning opportunities designed to inform students' practice and develop valued knowledge in Treaty based practice. Students will learn and grow professionally while undertaking interactive and experiential-based education. This programme will extend students' existing qualifications and allow higher level professional development that is inter-professional. It is relevant to practitioners from a wide range of practice contexts and the resulting interprofessional interaction of health and social services practitioners will enhance and strengthen service delivery in the region. An interprofessional context will enable graduates to extend their capacity for critical and professionalclinical reasoning for specialist practice, leadership, management and supervision in complex professional environments. Candidates may take up to two years to complete the Postgraduate Certificate.

The Postgraduate Diploma in Health and Social Practice recognises, promotes and supports the need for accessible higher education. It provides a pathway for professional development that offers flexible delivery modes and is accessible to students throughout the region. Technology will be used to provide students with alternative modes of study. Graduates will have developed a range of flexible skills and expertise which will position them well to be responsive to changing social service and health communities. They will have gained advanced knowledge and skills for practice and career progression within their field of practice and for leadership and management roles within the health and social service sectors. Learning and participating within an interprofessional teachinglearning context will enable graduates to transfer their experience to workplace relationships and networks. Depending on the selection of modules, graduates of the Postgraduate Diploma in Health and Social Practice may be eligible to apply for the Wintec 180-point Master of Professional Practice or for Master’s qualifications at other New Zealand universities and ITPs.

a) Candidates are required to have gained:

i. an undergraduate degree assessed as relevant by the Team Manager, or
ii. a qualification approved as equivalent by the Team Manager.

b) Candidates who have not gained a relevant undergraduate degree or equivalent qualification may submit a portfolio and, if the application is successful, may be admitted on an ad eundum statem basis.

c) Candidates for the Postgraduate Diploma in Health and Social Practice, (Professional Supervision), and the Postgraduate Certificates in Professional Supervision are required to have a minimum of two years post qualifying experience in their professional field of practice or the equivalent. This is in recognition of the requirement to have consolidated and developed their own practice to a level sufficient to embark in the role of supervisor of others.

English language requirements

Candidates whose first language is neither English nor M?ori are required to have score of 7 or better in all bands of the academic International English Language Test Score (IELTS), or equivalent and will be required to demonstrate the likelihood of being able to successfully achieve programme learning.