Travel health medicine is a fast growing and fast moving area of clinical practice. All health professionals providing travel health advice need to be familiar with current travel health issues and be able to deliver correct advice using reliable information resources tailored to the individual needs of each traveller.  More people with pre-existing illnesses or other special needs are travelling, therefore delivering advice is becoming more complex.

With the new guidance from the Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention (ACMP) just released in October 2017, this is an excellent time to learn based on the new guidelines, as there are some significant changes this year.  This course will provide a platform of confident practice, reflection and continuing professional development (CPD) through interactive learning with subject specialists and peers.  The course features an introductory lecture by Professor David Lalloo, chair of the ACMP on the current global picture of malaria.

The main aim of this course is to develop confident practice in malaria prevention, and provide an opportunity for reflection and continuing professional development through interactive learning with subject specialists and peers.

Professor David Lalloo: Chair of Public Health England (PHE) Advisory Committee on Malaria Prevention (ACMP) and Dean of Clinical Sciences and International Public Health at LSTM

This is an exciting time to learn more about malaria prevention as the Public Health England guidelines have some significant changes this year in response to changing risks for UK travellers.  This course provides an opportunity to learn about current recommended practice in malaria prevention and undertake continuing professional development (CPD) through interactive learning with subject specialists and peers, as well as providing an overview on the current global picture of malaria.

Course Outline

• Introduction and global impact of malaria
• Malaria life cycle, chemoprophylaxis and the malaria specific travel risk assessment
• Bite prevention
• Advising travellers with special risks on malaria chemoprophylaxis

• Carrying out a malaria risk assessment during a travel consultation

Course Structure

Students are expected to engage 4-5 hours per week over the 3 week period.

Week 1: Introduction

An outline of the course is presented to the students. You are asked to consider the etiquette and ground rules and to develop their own online profile. Resources are given to watch and a question asked to get you familiar with the online tools and interacting with fellow students

• Global picture of Malaria – distribution of malaria, global pattern of disease, where it is and who it affects, patterns of resistance, mortality and morbidity of disease, clinical picture of disease
• Group discussion on main group discussion board

Week 2

• “Knowledge check” 7 MCQs related to subjects covered in block 0
• Introduction to Malaria - malaria lifecycle, chemo-prophylaxis, stand-by malaria treatment, the malaria prevention risk assessment and consultation – what to ask?
• Drag and drop “matching” exercise for various malaria terms and their definitions
• Bite Prevention – repellents, insecticides, nets and common “myths”
• Six simple patient scenarios related to malaria ONLY.  Course participants are split into small groups. Course participants take one scenario each, and then are asked to comment on one other person from their group completed scenarios

Week 3

• Malaria consultation between nurse and patient video

• Malaria prevention in special risk groups – Special risk groups: pregnant, breastfeeding, children, complex medical conditions, complex itineraries
• 12 complicated patient scenarios related to malaria ONLY. 6 of the original scenarios made more complicated and 6 new ones. Course participants take two scenarios each.
• “Knowledge check” 12 MCQ’s related to subjects covered in block 1 & 2
• Course close

Online Learning

We are using an Asynchronous learning model.  Asynchronous e-learning involves recorded material and group work delivered via web (virtual learning environment), email and message boards that are then posted on online forums. In such cases, students ideally complete the course at their own pace (expected 4-5 hours per week, over the 3 weeks), by using the internet as a support tool rather than at specific online classes in real time.

Studying online is a first for many people.  This course will help you discover the skills required for online study and evaluate your own study skillset. You’ll also experience online communities and how you benefit from flexible study arrangements while still being supported by dedicated tutors.  Studying online takes advantage of technology to simulate or improve upon traditional methods of teaching.

We use a number of innovative tools to support your learning, whilst studying with us, at the centre of which is Brightspace. Brightspace brings together learners, tutors and learning materials in a simple to use web based learning management system which many students tell us is the easiest study platform they have used.  Brightspace is designed to give you easy access to everything you need to complete your studies whilst enabling you to interact with your fellow learners and be part of the wider LSTM community. Brightspace is mobile friendly and supports you even in low bandwidth settings.

LSTM also has a number of other technologies available which enable you to access video based learning resources (Panopto), easily study on your tablet device even whilst offline (Binder) and work effectively online with your peers (Wiggio). Each of these technologies has been designed to be user friendly and intuitive to use and you will have a dedicated team of staff to support you in the use of these. You will also have an Office 365 account and be able to download the latest version of Microsoft Office for the duration of your studies. 

LSTM Student Charter

General enquiries, assistance with applications and technical issues, please email mylstm@lstmed.ac.uk

If you would like to discuss something confidentially, perhaps disclose a disability, etc… please email studentsupport@lstmed.ac.uk