MASTER OF VETERINARY PUBLIC HEALTH MANAGEMENT

Ruth Laxton worked with the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney from 2002 - 2005 to develop a new Masters program in Veterinary Public Health Management. The program uses a blended delivery of three short residentials and distance learning supported by online classes (WebCT). The first cohort of students entered the program in 2003.

The program was awarded a 2006 Carrick Teaching Award - Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning for the development of an innovative, holistic curriculum and learning environment for relevant postgraduate education in Veterinary Public Health.The program also received the highest student satisfaction ratings at the University of Sydney in 2005.

To read about the development of the program: Developing a flexible postgraduate program in the Faculty of Veterinary Science Dr Jenny-Ann Toribio, Professor Richard Whittington, Professor Reuben Rose (Faculty of Veterinary Science), Ruth Laxton (R. L. Learning Designs)

As part of her work in the program Ruth Laxton developed an online tutorial for facilitators working on the program. Many of these facilitators are located out of Sydney (elsewhere in Australia and abroad) so their training needed to be delivered online. To read about the development of this tutorial: Remote Online Facilitators – A Training and Induction Solution Ruth Laxton (R. L. Learning Designs), Hannah Forsyth (University of Sydney), Jenny-Ann Toribio (University of Sydney)

The College of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney selected the tutorial as an example of excellent use of ICT.