About the Human Factors Short Course

The goal of this short course is to introduce Human Factors science and its application to healthcare. Human Factors (also referred to as Ergonomics) is concerned with the understanding of the interactions between humans and other elements of a complex system. The goal of Human Factors science is to apply theory, methods and principles to optimise the design of systems to enhance human performance and overall system safety (International Ergonomics Association, 2019). Think of medical device design, simulation-based training, design of guidelines and protocols, team dynamics and organisational management.

Course objectives

The broad and diverse discipline of Human Factors and why Human Factors science is essential to healthcare.
How to perform Human Factors research in healthcare using key Human Factors methods such as hierarchical task analysis, user-centred design and AcciMap.
Specific examples of how to apply Human Factors research methods to healthcare challenges such as interruption management and teamwork in time pressured emergencies.
Resilience Engineering as a recent movement within Human Factors Engineering and the important role of strengthening resilient performance in healthcare.

Time Commitment:

6 hours per week (on average)

Information

6 week course.
Online only, no on-campus attendance required.
Course content is available on a new, user-friendly teaching platform.
No assessments or minimum pass mark.
6 topics (one per week).
Allows for flexibility in work patterns – once released, lectures and reading material can be viewed at own pace and at any time.
Ideal for international students who reside outside of Australia/New Zealand.
Certificate of completion emailed at the end of the course.

Course Flyer

Download the course flyer Download Course Flyer

Eligibility

Anyone who is interested in Human Factors can register for this course.

Hospital Doctors
General Practitioners
Public Health clinicians
Allied health practitioners
Health service managers
Quality and Safety managers

Why participate?

Human Factors (Ergonomics) is an established discipline in many industries such as manufacturing, power generation and military settings. The Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES www.hfes.org) has been established over 60 years, but only recently has its importance in the delivery of safe, effective health care been recognised.

Human factors as a science seeks to design the work environment to make best use of the human operator to improve efficiency and safety. In terms of health, this includes the processes, equipment and training for delivery of high-quality care.

This course will provide an introduction to the practical application of human factors principles to organisational and clinical settings. By doing so, it will encourage the participants to improve patient safety at a managerial or clinical level with a broader base of skills than is commonly available within health services.

Course structure

SIX topics will be offered in this course released on a weekly basis.

No Assessments.

Course topics

Module 1 - Human Factors Engineering and varieties of human work by Dr. Steve Shorrock
Module 2 - Studying interruptions in healthcare System resilience in healthcare by Dr. Chiara Santomauro Dr. Sudeep Hegde
Module 3 - User centred design and designing for team work by Dr. Mia McLanders
Module 4 - Hierarchical Task Analysis by Stuart Dickinson
Module 5 - AcciMap and other system techniques by Assoc. Prof. Sharon Newnam, Dr. Natassia Goode
Module 6 - System resilience in healthcare by Dr. Sudeep Hegde

Please Note: Topics will be subject to change. Last Updated: December 2020

Course dates

March course:
29 March - 7 May

August course:
23 August - 1 October

RPL

Further opportunities for professional development in human factors / ergonomics are available by completing unit POM5005 Human factors for patient safety. This master’s unit deals with organisation wide issues (macroergonomics) and is an elective unit in the Master of Health Services Management and Master of Public Health programs.

There are future plans to develop a master’s program in clinical human factors. Should these be realised, requirements to accept this short course as contributing to this degree will be communicated to short course participants.

Unit POM5005 information is available here

CPD

Whilst this course is not directly registered for CPD points please contact your respective College to see if CPD points are possible.

2021 March course

Week	Available Date	Topic Name	Lecturer
	Wednesday 13 January	Registrations opens
	Sunday 28 March	Registration closes 12pm
	22 March	Website opens - 1 week prior to course starting Topic 1: Introduction to Human Factors Engineering and varieties of human work	Dr. Steve Shorrock
1	29 March	Topic 2: Studying interruptions in healthcare	Dr. Chiara Santomauro
2	5 April	Topic 3: User centred design and designing for team work	Dr. Mia McLanders
3	12 April	Topic 4: Hierarchical Task Analysis	Stuart Dickinson
4	19 April	Topic 5: AcciMap and other system techniques	Assoc. Prof. Sharon Newnam, Dr. Natassia Goode
5	26 April	Topic 6: Resilience Engineering in healthcare	Dr. Sudeep Hegde
6	3 May	Final Week of the Course
	10 May	Final Survey and Certificates
	7 June	Course Completion and Website Access Disabled

2021 August course

Week	Available Date	Topic Name	Lecturer
	Wednesday 13 January	Registrations opens
	Sunday 15 August	Registration closes 12 pm
	16 August	Website opens - 1 week prior to course starting Topic 1: Introduction to Human Factors Engineering and varieties of human work	Dr. Steve Shorrock
1	23 August	Topic 2: Studying interruptions in healthcare	Dr. Chiara Santomauro
2	30 August	Topic 3: User centred design and designing for team work	Dr. Mia McLanders
3	6 September	Topic 4: Hierarchical Task Analysis	Stuart Dickinson
4	13 September	Topic 5: AcciMap and other system techniques	Assoc. Prof. Sharon Newnam, Dr. Natassia Goode
5	20 September	Topic 6: Resilience Engineering in healthcare	Dr. Sudeep Hegde
6	27 September	Final Week of the Course
	4 October	Final Survey and Certificates
	1 November	Course Completion and Website Access Disabled

Course Convenors

Dr. Stuart Marshall

Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Medical Education, University of Melbourne and Senior Research Fellow, Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Monash University.

Mr. Garry Mann

Human Factors practitioner, working in Perioperative Medicine and Anaesthesia at Alfred Health and Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. Graduated from the University of Queensland in 2019 with First Class Honours.

Our Speakers

Assoc. Prof. Sharon Newnam

Speaker

Organisational Psychologist, Monash University Accident Research Centre.

Dr. Steven Shorrock

Speaker

Adj. Assoc. Prof. Centre for Human Factors & Sociotechnical Systems, University of the Sunshine Coast, Psychologist, Ergonomist and Human Factors Specialist.