Introduction to Humanitarian Healthcare Online Course

Introduction to Humanitarian Healthcare Course - FREE ACCESS

As an organisation dedicated to supporting the professional development of those working within humanitarian healthcare, we are offering free access to our course.

To access this course, you will need an account with RCSEd. If you do not have an account, please create one here.

Register for free below, log into your RCSEd account and submit the registration form.

Register Here

The Introduction to Humanitarian Healthcare Course has been developed through a partnership between UK-Med and the Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare (FRRHH) with support and guidance from the educational and professional development expertise of RCSEd.  Technical support was also provided by The Operations Partnership in the design and development of the course. This joint educational offering from UK-Med and FRRHH is the first of what we hope will be many resources that will help to create a professional home for humanitarian healthcare professionals.

The FRRHH is a global professional home for remote, rural and humanitarian healthcare professionals. The Faculty will support the needs of individuals and organisations working across the public, private and third sectors, by setting professional and educational standards to support domestic practice and overseas work.

UK-Med, a close partner of FRRHH, has teams deployed around the world in response to a range of health emergencies, including the support of vulnerable countries in their management of COVID-19. This course will form the initial stage of UK-Med's extensive training pathway required of those deploying into UK-Med led deployments.

To access the course as a FRRHH member, you are pre-registered and only require your RCSEd account details. If you are not yet a member of FRRHH, join here.

Course Information

The content of the course will help you identify and explore the key elements and agencies in Humanitarian Healthcare and their place within the humanitarian response framework. You will learn how best to adapt your clinical skills to the humanitarian environment and what you need to do to be ready to deploy to a humanitarian emergency as a health professional. Covering introductory material in an online format will allow for deploying agencies to focus more time and attention on key training required for deployment that may be delivered face to face or virtually.

This course is aimed at those who are interested in commencing or developing a career, paid or voluntary, in humanitarian healthcare. Our desired outcome is to help those who are interested to make an informed decision as to their suitability by clearly outlining the realities and complexities of working in the field. As well as providing a suitable framework for reflecting on previous deployments.

The experience and skills set of humanitarian healthcare have many lessons to pass on to the wider medical community and we welcome engagement from all corners of the healthcare world. For example, the NHS Nightingale North West in Manchester drew from experiences of the UK-Med response to Ebola in West Africa.

Assessment Method

At the end of each module you can test yourself on your understanding and recollection of some of the key messages. This is not a pass/fail exercise and no marks will be awarded. One or more of the answers may be correct. After you select your response, you will see an explanation of what we consider to be the correct response. Where appropriate, there will also be a reference to the relevant section in the text to help sign post you to the correct answer or to continue your own learning on this point. When you have viewed all the modules and completed the short tests, you will be eligible for a Certificate of Completion of the course.

Evaluation and Award of Certificates

Once you have completed the course assessment you will be asked to complete a short evaluation survey that will take no longer than 5-10 minutes. Honest and constructive feedback is integral to help us continue to deliver the highest quality of education. In order to do so, we welcome our learner's views and have a rigorous review process to ensure the quality of our courses continue to improve.

Once you have completed our online evaluation survey you will automatically be sent a PDF copy of your certificate including your name, date of completion and details of CPD points awarded.

A certificate of completion will allow you to demonstrate your interest in the field and provide evidence of your interest in humanitarian healthcare.

Modules

The course is divided into four modules:

Module 1: Humanitarian Principles and Influences

This module explores the key influences that have shaped humanitarian action; the core principles that shape our responses; the core standards that are in place to ensure quality and accountability, and the key organisations that make up the humanitarian architecture.

Module 2: Health and the Broader Humanitarian Health Response

This module explores the humanitarian health response, the importance of information management as part of the humanitarian cycle, and the linkages between health and the other sectors within a humanitarian response.

Module 3: Essential Emergency Healthcare in a Humanitarian Emergency

This module explores three key areas – the clinical care of direct consequences of a disaster; the care of underlying chronic conditions that present during a disaster, the management of coincidental emergencies that occur alongside the response and still require clinical management.

Module 4: Deploying into a Humanitarian Emergency

This module explores safety and security during deployment, the need to understand local culture and customs that influence a response, and the options for deployment.

Course Feedback

Course Feedback
This course gives a great overview on the different aspects and considerations of providing healthcare in austere conditions and is truly informative to anyone who may wish to undertake such roles. Pitched at the right level, it appeals to individuals from diverse backgrounds. I had fun completing the modules, and even marked some for future study. I will strongly recommend it to anyone who hopes to gain a real understanding of humanitarian medicine, particularly before deployment. A truly valuable resource for members and non-members of the Faculty.Dr Feng-Yi Soh, Consultant Clinical Oncologist
Having completed the excellent ‘Introduction to Humanitarian Healthcare course' I wanted to highlight its availability and very well put together content for those with an interest in this sector of healthcare. As well as 9hrs of recognized CPD, with all the background resources it encompasses, I got a solid 40+ hours of evidenced-based learning.Mr Rhodri Jordan, Remote Area Medical Consultant & Paramedic/Clinical Educator

The Faculty of Remote, Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare and UK-Med would like to thank the following subject matter experts for their contribution to the development of this course:

  • Professor Tony Redmond OBE
  • Dr Najeeb Rahman
  • Michelle Hanegaard
  • Dr Anisa Jafar

If you have any issues or questions please do not hesitate to contact frrhh@rcsed.ac.uk or call 0131 527 1648

For more information, see our FAQ guide. 


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