As a Queensland Health employee, you have been funded by your employer to undertake as many courses from DCAL (and the entire CDES education portal) as you like for free.

It depends on where you want to go!

• If you are aiming for an award program, choose the program and/or field of study first.  Then choose which courses will study from the course list.  Last, determine which DCAL credit sets will give you the transfer credits you require, and start studying the related short courses.
• If you are interested in continuing professional development, choose a topic that interests or challenges you and work at it through to the end.

You can complete all DCAL courses at your own pace – there is no set finishing date or timeframe.
However, 6-8 weeks is the optimal timeframe for these ‘action learning’ short courses.  Why?
All DCAL short courses are 10 ‘contact’ hours but are presented in 90-minute learning modules.  You will get the most benefit out of your studies by setting a schedule of one learning module a week.  Taking a break between modules gives you the opportunity to reflect on the key messages from the module whilst you are on the job, and even practice some of your new-found skills.  We call this ‘action learning’ and it results in better retention of knowledge and skills than if you try to study in just a couple of long sittings.

Each course completion is logged in your CDES Academic Transcript.  You can print this as evidence of completion  to earn CPD points through accrediting professional bodies, like RCNA.

DCAL provides the learner with enhanced professional skills that can be immediately applied, while rewarding them with university transfer credits for those interested in further study.

Very simply, when you achieve a passing grade for a credit set (two 10-hr DCAL short courses + the related academic pack), you become eligible to apply for a transfer credit of 1 (one) unit toward selected award programs at The University of Queensland.

View the list of UQ Health Insitu’s Credit Sets here.

DCAL short courses are available to Queensland Health employees at no cost. For those wishing to gain recognition for DCAL short course learning for the purposes of continuing onto a higher degree program with UQ, an academic pack must be purchased by the participant. This shared funding arrangement between Queensland Health and the employee will reduce the overall costs to employees wanting to obtain a higher degree award.

• Flexibility.  DCAL credit sets share identical learning and assessment experiences with their UQ course counterparts.  However, you can enrol, study and submit your assessment all throughout the year.  As an example, you could enrol in a DCAL academic pack in October, study the bulk over December/January, and submit your assessment tasks in February.  You are not restricted by the University calendar or semester dates.
• Save money.  Queensland Health employees can take advantage of the employer-sponsored pathway, by studying their short courses through CDES for free, and only paying $395 for the academic pack component of the credit set.  This represents a saving of around $425 per unit of study. 

DCAL credit sets will give you guaranteed transfer credits for the following UQ programs:

• Master of Health Sciences (Clinical Leadership)
• Graduate Certificate in Health Sciences, in the following fields of study:
• Quality and Safety
• Innovation and Change
• Professional and Workforce Development
• Clinical Education
• Health Services Management

Short courses by themselves do not qualify for transfer credit.  You need to demonstrate your competency by completing the assessment component of the credit set, which is the academic pack.

One DCAL credit set contains the equivalent learning and assessment to one 1-unit course offered at UQ. 

You can only transfer credit once you are accepted into one of the UQ programs listed at http://uqhealthinsitu.com.au/pathways.

All 30 DCAL short courses are on a direct pathway toward the UQ MHlthSc and GCHlthSc programs. Short courses by themselves do not qualify for transfer credit. You need to demonstrate your competency by completing the assessment component of the credit set, which is the academic pack.

The academic pack is the assessment component of the credit set.  Achieving a passing grade in the assessment demonstrates your competency in the skills learned in the learning components of the credit set – the two short courses.

Academic packs contain some additional reading, the assessment tasks, and information and support to help you achieving a passing grade.
All but *one of the 15 DCAL credit sets are assessed by the following assessment tasks:

• a learning log book (10%)
• a multiple-choice examination (20%)
• a 1500-2000 words written assignment (70%)

All assessment is conducted and submitted completely online, and in your own time.
*AP4651 has a more in-depth reflective writing task and no examination. 

DCAL academic packs are available through the UQ Health Insitu website: http://uqhealthinsitu.com.au/dcal.  The enrolment fee is $395 including GST and covers the cost of all marking and assistance with transfer credit when needed.  You can print a tax invoice for your records at the end of the enrolment process.

Yes.  You need to enrol in the two pre-requisite short courses before you are eligible to enrol in the academic pack, but you do not have to finish (or even start) study before enrolling in the academic pack.

DCAL academic packs have flexible timeframes, allowing you to enrol at any time and take as long as you need to complete the learning goals and assessment tasks. You can literally submit any of your assessment tasks any of the 365 days of the year. However, to keep things manageable, we have designated marking periods throughout the year. If you ‘check-out’ of your course by the due date for one of these marking periods, your assessment is guaranteed to be marked by the end of the marking period. There are no less than 6 marking periods per year, and you will be advised when these are upon enrolment..

The UQ Graduate Certificate in Health Sciences (GCHlthSc) is an 8-unit award program.  There are five fields of study to choose from.
Learn more about the GCHlthSc here.

The UQ Master of Health Sciences (MHlthSc) is a 24-unit award program which includes 6 units of capstone experiences (project work).

If you hold an approved degree equivalent to a 4-year degree or have completed Graduate Certificate in Health Sciences offered by UQ, your Masters will be a 16-unit program.
Learn more about the MHlthSc here.

To achieve an academic award through The University of Queensland, students are required to complete a minimum of one-third of the required award units as a student of The University of Queensland.  So, for an 8-unit Graduate Certificate, up to 5 units of credit can be obtained through transfer credits from external sources.  The remaining 3 units must be achieved through UQ courses as a student of the University.

We recommend you apply for the award program as soon as you have decided which one, so you are in no doubt about your application being approved. You can apply at any time during the year, and once you have your offer it is easy to defer your starting semester. Whilst you are waiting for the results of your application, you can start studying your first DCAL course/s. Once your application has been accepted, you can start enrolling in academic packs and collecting your transfer credits. Apply for UQ coursework here.

The enrolment requirements for UQ programs are displayed under the ‘Rules’ link on the program’s information page.  The only way to really know if you would be accepted for UQ coursework is to apply. 

Each application is considered individually by the Program Director and other UQ academics.  Provide as much supporting evidence of previous education and experience to improve your chances of being offered a place in the program.

Learn more about the GCHlthSc here.
Learn more about the MHlthSc here.
Apply for UQ coursework here

Yes!  Contact UQ Health Insitu by email, and include your daytime telephone number so we can contact you.  Email info@uqhealthinsitu.com.au.