About the Certificate

Applications are closed until further notice.

For the past 30 years, the public health workforce has grown and evolved to meet the changing needs of society.  We now have a large and dynamic health promotion and community based workforce with a great variety of experience and qualifications.  However, access to baseline public health qualifications has been limited. Consequently, there is an inconsistent understanding of public health concepts and contexts across the public health and related sectors. 

The Massey University Certificate in Public Health offers the opportunity to strengthen the foundation public health knowledge and skills essential for successful community based practice.  It is a part time, undergraduate level five, public health qualification offered as a distance learning programme (since 2014). 

Over time, the Certificate in Public Health will help grow a consistent understanding of, and a more unified language to communicate, the concepts and tools commonly used in public health. It aims to strengthen the public health and primary health care sectors’ capability to improve population health and promote health equity.  

The Certificate in Public Health provides an accessible first step qualification (particularly for the non-regulated workforce) that has been designed for the public health sector that is in full time or part time employment. It is designed to be engaging and achievable for students who have not previously completed higher education courses and those who have entered the public health workforce from other disciplines. 

The Certificate in Public Health is the beginning of an education pathway, and its courses can be transferred towards the Massey University Bachelor of Health Science for which a public health major has been developed.

For more information about the Certificate in Public Health course see Massey University website.

The cultural approach of the Certificate

The Certificate in Public Health has been specifically designed to recognise the unique contribution Māori make to public health practice in Aotearoa.  It provides the tools, frameworks and communication skills for all students to strengthen their ability to promote health equity and Māori Health outcomes to diverse audiences.  This is done through engaging with issues that affect health equity and diversity more generally, as well as encouraging those who wish to, to focus more exclusively on Māori health.  

The Certificate in Public Health programme weaves Te Tiriti o Waitangi throughout the courses and encourages students to explore and recognise diverse paradigms, world views, concepts and experiences.

The Certificate in Public Health encourages students to form online or, if students live in the same region, face to face peer groups.  These can be set up in a way that best suits the particular student groups and can be Māori or Pacific (or other) specific groups.

Why the Certificate in Public Health is useful for health professionals

The Certificate in Public Health is a part time, easily accessed distance learning programme, mostly completed online. It is designed to be completed while you are still working. It offers the opportunity to strengthen cultural competence and is purposefully structured to address health inequalities for Māori, Pasifika and other population groups. 

The Certificate in Public Health provides the opportunity for you to learn a range of new skills that you can apply in your workplace and build on your existing skills. It builds practical skills to analyse, design, communicate, plan, advocate for, implement and evaluate public health initiatives.

You can also customise your course work to focus on your specific area of practice or your particular interests.

The Certificate in Public Health will challenge you to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and attributes required of a public health practitioner, capable of working both independently and in a collaborative environment. 

The attainment of the Certificate in Public Health qualification can increase your work opportunities, especially as you successfully integrate the learning into your everyday work.

The content of the Certificate in Public Health is centred on the expectation that a graduate who successfully completes the Certificate in Public Health will be able to:

  • Analyse health inequalities based on an understanding of the social, cultural and economic determinants of health in New Zealand.
  • Identify opportunities to promote and protect public health based on an understanding of the influence of public health policy, public health advocacy and the scope of public health disciplines and functions.
  • Contribute effectively to community health development based on an analysis of health inequalities; an understanding of public health issues from a Treaty of Waitangi perspective and key public health agreements such as the Ottawa Charter.
  • Build and maintain relationships with Māori, Pacific and/or other peoples in New Zealand using culturally appropriate values, processes and protocols.
  • Use research and evaluation effectively to improve own public health practice and have skills in critique, analysis and written and oral communication.

For more information about the Certificate in Public Health course see Massey University website.