Nadine Tipping (MDisHlthC ’17) is Flinders University’s first Master of Disaster Health Care graduate. Master of Disaster may be a catchy title, but the Flinders postgraduate degree has the very serious aim of improving responses to local, national and international disasters.
‘Being deployed to Vanuatu and Fiji as part of the Australian Medical Assistance Team following Cyclone’s Pam and Winston were what inspired me to complete the Masters in Disaster Health Care,’ said Nadine, a Registered Nurse and Midwife at Royal Darwin Hospital.
Nadine has also worked as a midwife and an emergency nurse in Swaziland and Papua New Guinea, and says the course gave her a greater understanding on how important health is when considering crisis situations.
‘This course covered preparation, response and recovery from disaster and highlighted the need to have professional people in this field. As an emergency nurse, we always need to be prepared to respond to a situation within our facility to meet the needs of our community.’
Nadine studied the Flinders course online and was impressed with the course structure and availability of the lecturers to assist her in meeting her learning goals. ‘The access to resources, even when studying interstate, made studying online easy. The delivery of the course content allowed me to engage with the other students on Skype which encouraged some great discussions,’ said Nadine.
‘Flinders is well regarded as an academic institution both within Australia and abroad. Being able to say that I am an alumna of this institution means that I had the opportunity to be taught by some of the best in the field.’
Nadine is now looking forward to working with Careflight Darwin as a flight nurse and midwife from this January and will continue working casually at Royal Darwin Hospital in emergency.
The first of its kind in Australia, the Flinders University Master of Disaster Health Care is designed to enable healthcare professionals to deepen their specialist knowledge and skills in disaster management and response to major incidents and declared disasters. It provides practical skills and knowledge for use in a range of situations and enables graduates to contribute to current and future development of disaster health care and response.