CHICA-Canada Educational Opportunities
infection control COURSES CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN CANADA
Centennial College Online Infection Control
Information
This three-month online course, which duplicates the on-site course,
is offered twice per year (December - March and May - August) and
is designed for newly-appointed infection control personnel.
You will learn the planning, implementation, management and evaluation
of an infection prevention and control program.
Endorsed by CHICA-Canada

Queen's
University Online Basic Infection Control Course
Registration and Website
This course is designed to be a comprehensive introduction to
the principles and practice of infection prevention and control.
This course is highly interactive and uses multimedia technology
to present the materials. New infection control professionals
in all health care settings, including communicable disease
staff working in public health, would benefit from this course.
Topics that will be covered include medical microbiology; clinical
epidemiology; disinfection, sterilization and environmental management;
surveillance, CQI and outbreak management; infection control program
management; community infections; LTC and home care issues; resistant
and emerging pathogens; antibiotic utilization and control; occupational
infections; adult learning and teaching principles; evidence-based
infection control practice.
The general flow of the course is based upon one-, two- or four-week
modules. There are 10 modules in total: two are four-week modules,
seven are two-week modules, and there is a single one-week module.
In order to complete this course, it is necessary for the participants
to have basic computer skills. The first module (Computer Skills
and Technical Orientation to e-Learning) will address this issue
by assessing the electronic skills of the participants. Participants
who consider themselves electronically adept may opt to not participate
in this part of the first module.
Within each module, there are three broad parts that reflect
the type of learning activity and its objectives: knowledge gathering,
knowledge practice and knowledge sharing. Knowledge gathering
occurs by a wide variety of methods as directed by the instructors
of the module: assigned readings, self-directed work books and
research, online structured presentations, lectures and tutorials.
Knowledge practice involves assigned case studies of infection
control problems, short answer questions and online quizzes. In
this segment of the block you will work collaboratively within
small groups to achieve the learning objectives set out by the
module instructor(s). Just as is the case in actual professional
practice, working in collaborative groups to solve problems is
an important way to achieve goals and resolve problems. Therefore,
this course will rely heavily upon small group collaboration in
knowledge practice. Group collaboration will occur by e-mail,
Internet chat and teleconferences which are all built into the
learning environment of this course. Knowledge sharing
involves the small groups and the larger whole class to present
the results of their assignments, discuss assigned questions and
review quizzes. The knowledge sharing will occur in whole-class
live teleconferences and web chat and e-mail.
The curriculum of this course has been endorsed by the Community
and Hospital Infection Control Association-Canada. Course coordinators
are Dick Zoutman, MD, FRCPC (Professor, Departments of Pathology
& Molecular Medicine, Community Health & Epidemiology, Medicine
and Microbiology & Immunology, Queen's University) and Jim Gauthier,
MLT, CIC (Infection Control Practitioner, Providence Continuing
Care Centre, St. Mary's of the Lake Hospital, Kingston, Ontario).
Endorsed by CHICA-Canada

University of Calgary Online
Basic Infection Control Courses for Infection Control Professionals
Download Information and Registration Form
The purpose of these courses are to provide novice Infection Control
Professionals (ICPs) with the basic knowledge, tools and strategies
needed to do Infection Control in a broad range of health care
environments, from health care institutions to the community. The
purpose of this entry to practice course is (1) to identify and
describe the scope of infection prevention and control problems
and issues for novice ICPs and (2) to examine and integrate their
current expertise with the basic knowledge, tools and strategies
needed to examine problems and develop practical solutions in Infection
Control.
These 2 half course consist of approximately 100 hours offered with an Introduction,
4 two-part course-based modules and 1 practicum module. These are:
- Module 1 - What is infection control, how it is done and how to teach infection control to others.
- Module 2 - Common micro-organisms that are a problem in healthcare-acquired infections and
relevant communicable diseases and the type of infections they commonly cause.
- Module 3 - Basic concepts of epidemiology which is relevant to the transmission
of infections and describe and apply the basic principles of surveillance
and outbreak management.
- Module 4 - Basic Occupational Health and environmental problems/issues
that are relevant to Infection Control and identify potential solutions.
- Module 5 (Practicum) – To introduce the student to the realities of practicing and applying the
principles infection control in a healthcare environment.
These courses are web-based and include readings, exercises, online tutorials
and web-based discussion with colleagues and facilitators. On-line individual
and group discussions and examination after each module focus on application
of course material in the module.
The time commitment for the course is approximately 10-15 hours per week over
two terms which is the equivalent of about a 26-week period. You can schedule
your learning activities at your convenience in any week but will need to keep
up with your classmates and the course schedule in order to benefit from the
discussions.
The courses are open to novice ICPs from across Canada who has been practicing
in Canada for less than 1 year or who have been working part time (< 0.5 FTE)
for no more than 2 years.
The maximum number of participants will be 25—registration is on a first-come,
first-served basis. An undergraduate degree is not required to take the course;
however, permission from the instructor is required.
Endorsed by CHICA-Canada

Michener Institute Online Infection Control
and Epidemiology (IC 800)
Information and Course Outline
This online program will benefit infection control practitioners,
nurses, medical laboratory technologists, public health investigators,
and professionals in communicable disease control, including
physicians, and those preparing for the CBIC certification (CIC)
exam.

University of British Columbia Infection
Control Certificate Program Courses
The University of British Columbia Distance Education and Technology and the Departments of Pathology and Health Care and Epidemiology, in conjunction with the Vancouver Hospital Division of Medical Microbiology and Infection Control currently are offering three
on-line infection control courses and a
clerkship in clinical infection control. These three-credit university recognized courses may be taken as stand-alone courses or used towards a four-course University of British Columbia Infection Control Certificate and/or towards a Masters in Science, Nursing or Epidemiology with the permission of the individual's appropriate university departments. The courses are highly popular and early registration is recommended. The course descriptions are as follows:
Basic
Principles of Infection Prevention and Control (Pathology 427)
Introduces students to the principles of infection prevention and control. Basics
of Medical Microbiology for Infection Control (Pathology 467)
Introduces students to pathogenic organisms and the diseases they cause. The identification, clinical significance and transmission of pathogenic organisms are presented.
Basic
Epidemiology for Infection Control (HCEP 401/ Pathology 477)
This introductory course on epidemiology explores fundamental concepts
in epidemiology, study design and analysis and outbreak investigation
as it applies to institutional infection control. Surveillance
techniques, data collection and management and critical review
of the literature will be covered.
Clerkship
in Laboratory Medicine and Infection Control (Pathology 451)
This course is designed to familiarize students with clinical infection control and/or various subspecialties of Laboratory Medicine. This elective may involve attendance at an approved institution and/or a project assigned by the instructor(s); content of the clerkship will be preplanned with the student to meet their interests or requirements. The time commitment will entail approximately 30 - 45 hours of "contact" time and 20 - 30 hours of independent study. The course is open to students with permission from the course instructors.
University of Calgary Online
Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
Download Information and Registration Form
Website Information - look for MdSc 613.01 – Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
The purpose of this course is to explore the impact of infectious
diseases on populations rather than individuals using the principles
of epidemiology. In this course, we will examine the basic concepts
of infectious diseases epidemiology and explore the determinants
and distribution of infection and disease in populations and the
factors that influence the frequency, spread and distribution of
infectious diseases. This graduate level course is being offered for credit to any individuals
who wish to expand their knowledge in the Epidemiology of Infectious
Diseases. An undergraduate degree is not required to take the
course; however, permission from the instructor is required.
This course runs from September to December 2006. For more information
contact Dr.
Betty Ann Henderson.

University of Calgary Online
Course: Research in Healthcare Epidemiology and Infection Control
Download Information and Registration Form The focus of this course will be on healthcare epidemiology with particular emphasis on infection control. The underlying theme for this course will emphasize the research aspects of healthcare epidemiology and how the basic research techniques are applied in the healthcare environment. Topics will include surveillance, quantitative and qualitative methods, sampling, survey research methods, behaviour change, developing and assessing education programs and ethical practice.
This course runs from January to April 2008. For more information
contact Dr.
Betty Ann Henderson.

Centennial
College Basic Infection Control
This basic 80-hour introductory on-site course at the Centennial
College in Scarborough, Ontario is for professionals who need
to deal with infection control in their work. A certificate of
achievement is awarded on successful completion of the course.
Components include microbiology, principles of infection prevention
and control (applicable to all settings), investigation and control
of infectious diseases, surveillance techniques, waste management,
occupation health, critique of the literature, sterilization and
disinfection, adult education and accreditation.
Post diploma RN and BScN nurses will find this particularly
useful for continuing education as they care for clients in acute
care, long-term care and the community.
For information, check
the college website.
Endorsed by CHICA-Canada
University of Calgary MSc Program in Hospital Epidemiology
Hospital Epidemiology/Infection Control is an area of applied
research that is relatively new. The mandate is translating research
into practice through education and consultation with staff, through
policy and procedure development. Three inter-related activities
are used to improve patient outcomes related to hospital-acquired
infections: 1) service (ie. surveillance, outbreak investigation,
planning, and consultation), 2) education and 3) research.
This program was developed to draw individuals from 2 content
areas (Patient-care practices and health care systems; and 2)
Microbiology and infectious diseases) and to provide training
in epidemiology, biostatistics and applications of research for
these individuals. This will provide common ground on which the
knowledge and skills needed by Infection Control Professionals
can be further developed and enhanced.
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