Veterinary Foundations of Infection Prevention and Control

Date to be announced Mid 2024

Veterinary Foundations of IPC Flyer

Overview 

The ACIPC Veterinary Foundations of Infection Prevention and Control (VFIPC) course is designed for all veterinary staff worldwide and aims to provide students with a broad understanding and introductory skills to enable them to assess, plan, implement and evaluate infection prevention and control activities within their veterinary workplace. It is designed and assessed at AQF Level 8 equivalent to Graduate Certificate/Diploma level. The course includes a strong integrated One Health focus. 

This course provides a valuable pathway for further learning and is an important resource for those wishing to pursue a career as a veterinary infection control professional. 

With 11 self-paced modules, this course allows participants to apply knowledge to their own practice. Veterinary Foundations is a key component to achieving the ACIPC Primary Credential (CICP-P). The program has been designed to accommodate busy work schedules, with a series of self-directed learning units supported by a structured online curriculum. Topics include: environmental hygiene, outbreak management, employee health, surveillance, epidemiology and microbiology. This course reflects recent evidence, guidelines and standards. 

Cost 

• $1520 for ACIPC members
• $1820 for non-members 

Scholarships

A number of scholarships are offered for the Veterinary Foundations of IPC Course. Full and partial scholarships are available to help students with the cost of the course.

Applications are invited from veterinarians, veterinary nurses, and veterinary technicians currently working in veterinary settings.

Any veterinary setting is suitable, for example hospital, clinic, laboratory, agriculture, and zoos.

Applications are especially sought from rural and remote veterinary settings.

Applicants must have reliable internet access and a computer.

Applicants will be required to write 250-300 words on how completing this course might improve the safety of patients and staff by applying learned infection prevention and control practices in their setting.

For further information contact learning@acipc.org.au

Course Length 

The course runs over approximately six months, including preparation of Assessment 3 – essays (total 3000 words).  Participants will complete 11 learning modules and related assessments at their own pace and are expected to attend two live video-conferencing tutorial sessions during the six-month course. Dates will be posted at the beginning of the course.   

The course study is designed to be completed in approximately 80-90 hours. We expect students to allocate 6-8 hours of study per module including answering key questions and completing the quizzes. Students who have not studied in a long time or where infection prevention and control is a new concept may take longer to complete each module and the assessments. The expected 80-90 hours of study includes preparing, drafting and submitting the final 3000-word assignment.

The course text book Microbiology and Infection Control for Health Professionals (Lee and Bishop 2015) is available to students as an e-book for the duration of the course. 

Academic integrity 

As part of the Veterinary Foundations of IPC course, students will be required to complete a short module, Academic Integrity Explained. This will take about 20 minutes to complete. The AIE lesson is the first activity in the VFIPC course. 

Completion date 

Each course is spread over approximately 24 weeks and a course deadline is advised. After this date, a student who has not completed the course work and submitted the final assignment will be deemed to have not passed the course. Students who complete the course requirements early will be issued with their Certificate and Academic Transcript with two weeks of completion. 

Course assessment 

The assessments include several online key questions (100-200-word discussion posts), 11 quizzes and a two part 3,000-word written assignment. 

Posting to all key questions contributes 20% to your final grade. The quizzes provide up to 20%, e.g. if you score 100% on all 11 quizzes, you will receive 20% towards your final grade. For the third assessment, the final assignment, which contributes 60% to the course total, you require a minimum of 50% to pass the course overall. 

CPD hours 

The College recommends completing the Veterinary Foundations course as 80 hours of CPD.  

Course facilitator  – Dr Angela Willemsen BVSc, PhD, University of Queensland

Angela is a practising veterinarian with a passionate interest in infection prevention and control. As course facilitator, she can assist you with questions regarding the course material, provide direction and updates, and will review a draft of your assignment and provide feedback. You may use the question and answer forum in Moodle to engage with your facilitator and other students. Whilst we encourage students to use the Moodle platform, we understand that sometimes a student will need to contact their facilitator directly and contact details are provided. 

Pathways after completion 

The Veterinary Foundations of IPC course is designed at AQF8 level to ensure that graduates are given a pathway to achieving ACIPC credentialling and may consider further post-graduate study. 

Recognised prior learning (RPL) for completing Veterinary Foundations 

Each university applies recognition of prior learning (RPL) and credit to their programs in slightly different ways. When enrolling in a university postgraduate graduate certificate or diploma, Veterinary FIPC graduates may apply for credit for completing the Veterinary Foundations of IPC. The College will provide a certificate of completion and academic transcript, which can be used as evidence for your university application and these documents will include the learning objectives, assessments, and hours of learning. 

Terms and conditions 

Please read ACIPC’s standard terms and conditions – www.acipc.org.au/terms. It is each student’s responsibility to ensure they have read and understood the terms and conditions before enrolling for ACIPC’s Veterinary Foundations of Infection Prevention and Control course. 

FAQs

Q. What do I need to complete the course?

A. You will need a reliable computer and internet connection to access the online material and to write your assignment. You will also need a good internet connection to enable you to access the online material. Some computers internal speakers aren’t great quality, so some plug-in speakers or a set of headphones might assist in listening to lectures. This is often an inexpensive item.

Q. Do I need to purchase any textbooks?

A. No, you are not required to purchase any textbooks. However, for those that work as an veterinary infection control professional you may find the course textbook  beneficial to your daily practice. All the materials that you need are found online. This includes the course e-book, online notes, readings, articles, lectures and activities.

Q. I haven’t studied for a long time, will the College help me learn?

A. The College will provide guidelines, instructions and feedback to help you learn the skills required. However, we won’t be teaching you how to write essays or how to use the internet. We also include some resources for academic assignment writing.

Q. Can I go on holiday, or can I take leave during my study?

A. As an adult learner, it is your responsibility to keep up to date with weekly activities and assessment deadlines. The course facilitator or administration will not chase you if you do not complete activities or assessment. As the material is available online and designed as self-directed modules you can set your own pace. This generally means that students who regularly complete modules and the assessments during the course, can factor in short breaks during the course.

Q. What if I get sick or feel overwhelmed with study?

A. If you become unwell or feel overwhelmed during assessment time you can contact the education manager to apply for an extension by emailing education@acipic.org.au. The education manager will make reasonable adjustments to assessment deadlines. However, in some situations this will not be possible if the request is outside of the course timeframe.

Q. Who will be able to support me with course material?

A. Your course facilitator will be able to assist you with questions regarding the course material. The office team cannot assist you with course material. Use the Question and Answer Forum within the Communication section in Moodle to communicate with your facilitator. Other students within the course will be able to see your question and the facilitator’s answer. Your facilitator will have posted their email address within your course. Whilst we encourage students to use the Q&A function, we understand that sometimes students will need to contact a facilitator directly.

Questions

If you have any questions, please email learning@acipc.org.au for more information.