Surveillance is the collection, analysis and interpretation of health or related data for public health action. The Public Health Surveillance course is designed to equip students with the knowledge and skills in four domains: establishment, maintenance, reporting, and evaluation of public health surveillance systems.
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:
- Design public health surveillance systems.
- Evaluate public health surveillance systems using appropriate frameworks.
- Analyse, interpret, and critique public health surveillance data.
- Consider legal and ethical basis in the design and evaluation of public health surveillance systems.
- Communicate findings of evaluation of surveillance systems and analysis of surveillance data effectively to a range of stakeholders.
Indicative Assessment
- Participation in the sessions in course blocks related to the course (10) [LO 1,2,3,4,5]
- Online quiz (30) [LO 1,3,4]
- Preparation of a surveillance report (60) [LO 2,3,5]
The ANU uses Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. While the use of Turnitin is not mandatory, the ANU highly recommends Turnitin is used by both teaching staff and students. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the ANU Online website.
Workload
The expected workload will consist of approximately 130 hours throughout the session including:
- The face-to-face component will be delivered in intensive mode over one week, Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm (total 35 hours).
- Approximately 95 hours of self-directed study, including self-directed learning modules, and pre-reading before the intensive week, and assessments.
Inherent Requirements
No specific inherent requirements have been identified for this course
Requisite and Incompatibility
Prescribed Texts
None
Preliminary Reading
Rasmussen S.A. and Goodman R.A. The CDC Field Epidemiology Manual. New York: Oxford University Press, USA; 2019.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems: recommendations from the guidelines working group. MMWR 2001;50(No. RR-13).
Lee LM, Thacker SB, Louis ME. Principles and practice of public health surveillance. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010.
Fees
Tuition fees are for the academic year indicated at the top of the page.
- Student Contribution Band:
- 2
- Unit value:
- 6 units
If you are a domestic graduate coursework student with a Domestic Tuition Fee (DTF) place or international student you will be required to pay course tuition fees (see below). Course tuition fees are indexed annually. Further information for domestic and international students about tuition and other fees can be found at Fees.
Where there is a unit range displayed for this course, not all unit options below may be available.
| Units | EFTSL |
|---|---|
| 6.00 | 0.12500 |
Offerings, Dates and Class Summary Links
ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.
Class summaries, if available, can be accessed by clicking on the View link for the relevant class number.
Quarter 1
| Class number | Class start date | Last day to enrol | Census date | Class end date | Mode Of Delivery | Class Summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1267 | 01 Jan 2026 | 02 Jan 2026 | 30 Mar 2026 | 31 Mar 2026 | In Person | N/A |