Master’s Degree in Infectious Disease prevention and control (MID)

Published on August 7, 2021Updated on November 16, 2021

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Master’s Degree in Infectious Disease prevention and control (MID)

The proposed master program in infectious diseases at Al-Quds University is a multidisciplinary programme that will work to bridging the fields of epidemiology, laboratory sciences, Antimicrobial stewardship and public health in the context of disease control.

In the programme, students will be trained in all aspects of the control of infectious diseases and will be equipped with specialised skills that will facilitate a career in the control of infectious diseases as staff of health ministries, health departments, and national or international disease control agencies.

Mission

It is designed to provide the students with the advanced disciplinary knowledge, models, methods, competencies and skills in infectious diseases through high quality accredited education, research and innovative initiatives. These competent graduates will be professionals who can develop policies for the prevention and immunity of infectious diseases, control, management and surveillance in a range of various settings and situations.

Programme Aim:

The aim is to provide a comprehensive analysis and understanding of the role of the biology of infective agents and hosts on the outcome of infection, and the application of acquired knowledge in combination with epidemiological and public health approaches. The program graduates will be equipped with the state-of-the-art knowledge and skills in infectious diseases that can safely and effectively practice in preventive and curative services at various settings, ultimately contributing in the development of rational strategies for the prevention and control of infections and the phenomenon multidrug resistance.

Programme General objectives

To increase understanding of the principles of biology and how these principles apply to the understanding of infectious diseases and their control;
To provide students with the proper knowledge of healthcare-associated infections, food and food borne infections, epidemiology of infectious diseases, infection prevention and control, vector and vector borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance; stewardship and use.
To enable students to develop a critical awareness of the current issues that dictate the direction of current research in infectious diseases;
To enable students to develop and apply knowledge of infectious disease biology, methodology and policy to systematically and creatively solve complex problems e.g. the design of control programmes.
To enable students to discuss surveillance and the investigation of relevant infection
To enable students planning and implementing disease prevention and control programs
To enhance students abilities in critical evaluation and interpretation of research on the field of epidemiology of infections, infection prevention and control and antimicrobial resistance.
To promote e independent critical and evaluative skills that can be used to apply prevention and management strategies of infections in a variety of health care / clinical settings and other institutions.
To provide students with the skills to develop and conduct research projects
To use computational biology (bioinformatics) for managing infectious diseases

Soon …

Earned a bachelor degree in health specialty with an average of not less than 70% Students having a BsC in biology can apply to the program.
Their application will be evaluated by the acceptance committee and a decision for pre-request courses will be the decision of the committee.
At least 2 years of working experience in health.
Competence in English language Successful completion of a personal interview.

Some of the following places of graduates’ work:

infection control consultants e.g.in hospitals .
health care workers (in hospitals, government departments and local councils).
infection control and clinical immunology staff e.g. in hospitals.
hospital epidemiologists.
policy makers (in relevant fields).health and safety officers e.g. in tertiary institutions, industry, governments etc).
public health officers (in primary heath care centers, hospitals, government departments,
NRWA, non-governmental organizations and local councils).
quarantine officers (at airports, shipping centers etc) .
aid workers in health care programs, and Pharmaceutical industries.

The MID program is a part-time master program. The student must be available 2 days a week for taking courses. The student must finish his/her courses within 2 years of the program (4 semesters) according to the program implementation plan. The student can either have one of the program tracks: Thesis track and non-thesis track.

The MID program at Al-Quds University is a 38 hours’ program. It includes 12 credit hours core courses and 13 credit hours obligatory courses. In addition, the student has to select 4 hour courses or 8 electives depending on track.

The MID program has 2 tracks: thesis track (4 credit hours) and a non-thesis track (10 credit hours elective courses of which action research of 2 hours). Each student must finish an Internship period after registering the course (3 hours)

Program content

Student must complete 38 credit hours distributed as follows:

Core courses	12 credit hours
Obligatory courses	13 credit hours
Electives	4 hours
Thesis/non-thesis	6 credit hours
Internship period	3 credit hour (120 training hours)
Total	38 Credit Hours

Implementation plan

First semester= 9 hours for both tracks
Course Number		Core courses		Credit H		Course type
8180601		Microbiology of Infection prevention and control		3		Core
8180602		Immunity to Infectious diseases		2		Core
8180603		Fundamentals of Epidemiology		2		Core
8180604		Biostatistics and statistical packages		2		core
Second semester = 10 hours for both tracks
Course Number			Courses	Credit H	Course type
8180605			Research methods in infectious diseases	3	Core
8181606			Epidemiology and vaccinology of infectious diseases	3	Obligatory
8180607			Antimicrobial resistance and infection control	2	Obligatory
8180701			Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice	2	Obligatory
Third semester = Thesis: 11 hours / Non-thesis: 10 hours
Course Number			Courses		Instructor
8180702			Antimicrobial stewardship: fundamental and competency	2	Obligatory
8180703			Healthcare-associated infections	2	Obligatory
8180704			Surveillance system and infectious diseases	2	Obligatory
8180790			Thesis 1	3	Thesis track
			elective	2	both
8180788			Action research project	2	Non-thesis track

Fourth semester= Thesis: 8 hours Non-thesis= 9hours
Course Number			course		Instructor
			Elective	2	For both tracks
			Elective	2	Non-thesis track
			Elective	2	Non-thesis track
8180799			Internship period course	3	Both tracks
8180790			Thesis 2	3	Thesis track
Elective courses (4 for thesis track and 8 for the non-thesis)
8180620	Occupational health and safety in healthcare			2	Theoretical
8180621	Nutrition, infection and immunity			2	Theoretical
8180622	Special Aspects of Environmental Health			2	Theoretical
8180623	Patient safety and risk management in health care			2	Theoretical
8180624	Diagnostic Microbiology			2	mixed
8180625	Introduction to bioinformatics			2	Theoretical
8180626	Principals and practice of health promotion			2	Theoretical
8180721	Current issues and emerging infectious diseases: prevention and control			2	Theoretical
8180722	Health ethics and human rights			2	Theoretical

Course Number	Course title	Description
8180601	Microbiology of Infection prevention and control	This course provides students with an opportunity to advance knowledge and skills in infection prevention and control in contemporary healthcare practice. It focuses on the definitions, principles and practices of infection prevention and control. It aims to provide a global perspective of infection prevention and control, including knowledge on history and importance for healthcare, definitions of healthcare-associated infections and community associated infections, hygiene in the community and healthcare, hand hygiene, isolation precautions, environmental infection control, disinfection and sterilisation, the role of governance and leadership, risk assessment and management, organization of infection control programs, structure of the infection control committee, role and responsibilities of the infection prevention and control professional, health economics, legal, ethical and regulatory aspects.
8180602	Immunity to Infectious diseases	The course introduce the students to the molecular and cellular basis of the immune system, to understand how the immune system protects humans from infection intracellular and extracellular bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. It will also provide students with knowledge of how all the above infectious agents evade the immune system, More over students will gain the capacity to understand how pathogen-specific immune response contribute to disease in the host, and how immune based treatment and prevention strategies to combact infectious diseases.
8180603	Fundamentals of Epidemiology	This course will introduce the basic principles and methods of epidemiology. This unique branch of science is necessary to give the student an understanding of health and diseases among the population. The course is a set of basic lectures in epidemiology and a group of relevant exercises and case studies. It will allow the student to concept, analyze, and evaluate epidemiological studies relevant to the community.
8180604	Biostatistics and statistical packages	This course focuses on the statistical description of data and inference with applications to research in public health. Topics covered: descriptive statistics, graphical displays of data, introduction to probability, expectations and variance of random variables, confidence intervals and tests for means, differences of means, proportions, differences of proportions, chi-square tests for categorical variables, hypothesis testing, an introduction to analysis of variance, regression and multiple regression. Statistical software will be used to supplement hand calculation.
8180605	Research methods in infectious diseases	The students will gain knowledge on different methods commonly used in research in the field of infectious diseases. The course will also provide the skills to interpret and criticize research, in order to apply published evidence into everyday practice and to plan further research.
8180606	Epidemiology of infectious diseases and vaccines	Introduces the basic methods for infectious disease epidemiology and case studies of important disease syndromes and entities. Methods include definitions and nomenclature, outbreak investigations, disease surveillance, case-control studies, cohort studies, laboratory diagnosis, dynamics of transmission, Case-studies and student presentations focus on acute respiratory infections, diarrheal diseases, Measles, hepatitis, tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and others new emerging diseases. This course provides students with information related to the principles of immune response against infectious agents, the history of vaccines, vaccination programs, types of vaccines, and adverse immune reactions and disorders. Besides, providing students with an understanding of immunisation principles, the impact of vaccination on the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases (VPDs), how to assess the need for new vaccines and how to implement and monitor a new vaccination program(s).Problem-based sessions are incorporated for discussing and understanding of basic and applied aspects of vaccinology, and enhancing group collaboration and communication.
8180607	Antimicrobial resistance and infection control	This course covers content related to antimicrobial resistance: the origins of antimicrobial resistance, dissemination and mechanisms. The course also will cover the genetic basis of antimicrobial resistance including mutation resistance and horizontal gene transfer (HGT). Students will equip with knowledge on how infectious diseases contributes to the global risk of antimicrobial resistance. Also, it will explore the growing problem of antimicrobial-resistant infections in health and social care settings and methods for antimicrobial susceptibility testing and detection of specific resistance in the microbiological laboratories.
8180701	Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice	This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to common human infectious diseases caused by different organisms. The course covers common infectious diseases in community and health care settings. This course has a strong emphasis on the practical aspects of infectious disease and is important to those who are working or pursue their career in the fields of epidemiological investigations, public health surveillance, and other public health responses that are related to microbial infections. The course will be taught via lectures and case-based approach, which requires student’s commitment to read and prepare ahead of each lecture, and to participate in the discussion during the lecture.
8180702	Antimicrobial stewardship: fundamental and competency	The course will provide the students with the necessary background on the significance of antimicrobials and helps them conceptualize the various considerations of antimicrobial use and antimicrobial stewardship. The course will help students analyse the different components of an antimicrobial stewardship program. Through demonstration of case studies and analysis of relevant literature, the course will address and evaluate the multiple implications of antimicrobial use and the application of antimicrobial stewardship.
8180703	Healthcare-associated infections	The aim of this course is to give students the necessary knowledge to be able to develop a strategy to prevent healthcare associated and hospital infections. The goal of infection prevention is to protect the patient and protect the care giver and visitors in a cost-effective manner. This course is designed to provide participants with an overview of contemporary infection prevention and control practices for a variety of settings
8180704	Surveillance system and infectious diseases	The course will provide theoretical and practical knowledge to design, implement, and evaluate effective public health surveillance programs. Topics scheduled for presentation include an overview and history of surveillance systems; planning considerations; sources and collection of data; analysis, interpretation, and communication of data; surveillance systems technology; ethics and legalities; state and local concerns; geographic information system, infectious diseases rates, risk factors, validity of data, Health Care-Associated Infections in Hospitals and future considerations.
8180620	Occupational health and safety in healthcare	The course describes modes of transmission of occupational exposures of infectious diseases and methods of protection and prevention of these exposures. The course will also introduce the principals of risk assessment, hazards identification, risk characterization and its management in occupational settings. Moreover, application of HACCP approach and bio-safety measures will be emphasized.
8180621	Nutrition, infection and immunity	This course provides knowledge of the interactions between nutrition and immune function is fundamental to understanding risk of both infectious and chronic diseases. It also provides an overview of the relationships between nutrition, infection, and immunity, with a focus on established and emerging public health problems. Reviews assessment methods for immune function in the context of public health nutrition research. Discusses the impact of the immune response on nutrient metabolism, nutritional status, and interpretation of biomarkers. Examines the deleterious effects of under nutrition on host barrier defenses and innate, humoral, cell-mediated immunity, and mucosal immunity. Presents case studies on the synergistic and antagonistic interactions between the infection, immunity and under nutrition. Provides self-study materials covering the basic tenets of immunology and nutritional status assessment for students with limited background in immunology or nutrition.
8180622	Special Aspects of Environmental Health	This course focus on the health, hygiene and sanitation of specific aspect of environmental aspects. Aspects of food safety and hygiene, water sanitation and vectors and vector born diseases. Students will be presented with knowledge and skills needed to identify, investigate and prevent food-borne diseases. Emphasis will be given to foodborne diseases, their epidemiology and the most common causative microbial hazards, basics of water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure in the context of public health. Drinking water quality and quantity, appropriate water sources, and water treatment options will be discussed. In addition, students will be exposed to the essentials of hygiene and preventive practices and behaviour change techniques in sanitation and hygiene as well as methods and rules for prevention and control. In addition, This course aims to introduce the students to vector born diseases and their transmitting vector characterization and control, their causes and risk factors, epidemiology, transmission and control. Emphasis will be put on the biological vectors, general biology of the disease cycle elements and their interaction (pathogen, animal, human and vector), the epidemiology, transmission dynamics, diagnosis and the control of the disease.
8180623	Patient safety and risk management in health care	The course describes patient safety and improvement concepts that can be directly applied in the health care setting. These concepts are: unsafe care, burden of unsafe care, adverse events and medical errors, safety culture, safety improvement process, patient safety solutions, planning patient safety programs. Moreover, the course introduces students to risk management concept and process. It includes identifying risks, quantifying and prioritizing/ ranking risks, mitigation and reduction strategies, monitoring and assessing risks, and developing risk management plans.
8180624	Diagnostic Microbiology	Diagnostic Microbiology course focuses on medical aspects of Microbial pathogens, and their identification using techniques such as Microscopy, cultural, biochemical, serological, and molecular that aid in the process of identification of microbial pathogens. In addition, antibiotic susceptibility studies and the correlation of the presence of microorganisms to health and disease will be discussed.
8180625	Introduction to Bioinformatics	This course explores the theory and practice of biological database searching and analysis. In particular, students are introduced to integrated systems where a variety of data sources are connected through internet access. Information retrieval and interpretation are discussed, and many practical examples in a computer laboratory setting enable students to improve their data mining skills. Methods included in the course are searching the biomedical literature, sequence homology searching and multiple alignment, phylogeny, gene prediction, protein sequence motif analysis and secondary structure prediction, and several genome browsing methods.
8180626	Principal and practice of Health promotion	This course introduces students to the concepts and applications of health promotion and education. Topics include: concepts of positive health, principles of health promotion and education, health promotion strategies at the individual, community and society levels, practical aspects of health promotion programs, social concept of health education, in addition to methods of planning for health promotion and health education programs.
8180721	Current issues and emerging infectious diseases: prevention and control	The course focuses on the analysis and presentation of specific topics related to infection prevention and control. The topics will be selected each semester, expected to have a direct or an indirect relationship with current issues and trends in the field such as new resistance patterns, emerging infectious diseases, recent outbreaks, population movement-related infections, new trends in infection prevention and control practices and others
8180722	Health ethics and human rights	The course focuses on ethical theories and bioethical issues relevant to the impact and control of infectious diseases on individuals, communities and populations . Moreover, the course covers concepts and principles of human rights, their relationship to and impact within health sector. The course will cover a range of bioethical challenges and conflicts. These conflicts include those confronted by individuals, families, health care providers, researchers and policy makers. Students will also examine and discuss key decisions related to infectious disease such as preventions, treatments, research, and policy making.
8180790	Thesis	This course aims to familiarize students with all necessary actions in preparing, submitting and performing a research project. These steps include submitting a research proposal, preparing a research protocol, performing primary or secondary research, summarizing findings, reviewing the literature, developing and implementing authorship abilities and presenting research.
8180788	Action research project	This course is designed to enable students to use evidence in offering solutions to a relevant issue. Students will be encourage to study an issue relevant to their area of specialty and do a baseline study and looking to possible solutions. The next step will be implementing a feasible solution to address the issue, followed by conducting end-line assessment to ascertain whether the intervention has addressed the concerned issue or not. This exercise will allow students develop creative evidence based solutions.
8180799	Internship period	The Internship period program is a period where student will be able to have practical learning experiences and will have the opportunity to work alongside professionals in their field. Internship periods are beneficial for students and employers. Students will be able to apply skills and knowledge they gained in their learning process. They may develop their Internship question or work with a those professionals or agencies on a project. Students typically work with a preceptor, who is a professional in the field or a member of the faculty. Preceptors guide the student’s work, providing suggestions and reviewing findings. Internship period placements will be of 16 days duration for 8 hours a day (120 on site hours).

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