Audit of essential infection prevention and control content provided within undergraduate/postgraduate public health programs across Australian and New Zealand universities.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: To describe and analyse the infection prevention and control (IPC) curricula within Public Health degrees across Australian and New Zealand Universities and identify foundational IPC knowledge deficits. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of public health and related programs across tertiary education institutions within Australia and New Zealand was conducted to comprehensively illustrate the current inclusion of IPC core and elective courses and identify areas of IPC content deficit. RESULTS: Australian (n = 32) and New Zealand (n = 9) universities were audited, consisting of 217 public health/public health related degrees within Australia and 45 within New Zealand. Within Australia 41% of public health degrees and 49% in New Zealand did not offer any IPC content as core or elective subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Public health tertiary education in Australia and New Zealand is lacking in equipping and imbedding IPC skills and knowledge in public health graduates. This highlights the need for a framework guiding mandatory IPC content within Australian and New Zealand public health programs.