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Advance and enhance existing health care with this exciting, innovative postgraduate degree — the only one of its kind in Australia offered under a school of medicine.

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Lead the future

Catalyse a new generation of interdisciplinary healthcare practice

Real-world relevance

Courses created by health professionals for health professionals

Flexible study

Balance your commitments and learn online

Online

Online: February, July

Plus Student Services and Amenities fee
Fee deferral and scholarships available if eligible

Fees currently displayed are indicative only. 2024 fees will be uploaded by October, 2023.

1 year full-time online or part-time equivalent

AQF level 7 bachelor degree in a health discipline and current AHPRA registration as a health professional

122106

What to expect

Health care professionals can enhance their careers by expanding their expertise with lifestyle medicine. Benefit from new research, technology and multi-disciplinary healthcare education in this fast-growing discipline. You will gain the skills to manage lifestyle-related health problems, and prevent and reverse common chronic physical and mental health illnesses.

Experience high-quality teaching and programs, with opportunities to engage with innovation and entrepreneurship in the health, community and industry spaces. Critically investigate and assess lifestyle-related disease, including diverse models of care. You will learn to apply theories in psychological, medical, nutritional and addiction science in a variety of health contexts.

This flexible, online course takes two years to complete part-time. You will study four core subjects, plus choose from electives in research, public health, business and health professional education to align with your career goals. Build your network with connections to high profile clinicians, researchers, industry experts and innovators in the field of lifestyle medicine.

With studies indicating that the majority of chronic disease burden is preventable with lifestyle interventions, the demand for lifestyle medicine professionals will only increase.

Graduates of JCU’s Graduate Diploma of Lifestyle Medicine are sought-after leaders with the skills to improve health care innovatively and holistically. All health professionals are encouraged to apply.

Students who complete the Graduate Diploma of Lifestyle Medicine will be eligible for a Fellowship of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine. You can also go on to complete the Master of Lifestyle Medicine.

Inherent requirements

Inherent requirements are the identified abilities, attributes, skills, and behaviours that must be demonstrated, during the learning experience, to successfully complete a course. These abilities, attributes, skills, and behaviours preserve the academic integrity of the University’s learning, assessment, and accreditation processes, and where applicable, meet the standards of a profession. For more information please review the inherent requirements for the Graduate Diploma of Lifestyle Medicine.

Career Opportunities

There is an increasingly high demand for lifestyle and public health expertise in almost all healthcare industries, including primary care and tertiary hospital settings, community projects, industry, not-for-profit and government sectors. Graduates of JCU’s Graduate Diploma of Lifestyle Medicine will have the skills to consult and lead clinical and research programs in a variety of healthcare settings.

This course provides qualifications to support careers in clinical practice, public health, research, teaching, consultation for health care systems, occupational programs, industry and community programs.

Handbook

Handbook year	Information valid for students commencing in 2024
Course code	122106
Course type	Graduate Diploma (AQF Level 8)
Owner	Academy
College	Medicine and Dentistry

Award Requirements

Admission Requirements

Pre-requisites	Completion of at least an AQF level 7 bachelor degree in a health discipline from this or another University, and current registration as a health professional
Minimum English language proficiency requirements	Applicants of non-English speaking backgrounds must meet the English language proficiency requirements of Band 3a – Schedule II of the JCU Admissions Policy.
Additional selection requirements	Information published by JCU or otherwise made available to students when applying, may specify additional criteria to be considered in ranking applicants in order of merit if the number of applications exceeds a quota or other limit on the places made available for the course. Information provided by applicants during the application process and any other information obtained by JCU in the application process may be used by JCU to rank applicants in order of merit by reference to those additional criteria.

Academic Requirements for Course Completion

Credit points	24 credit points as per course structure
Course learning outcomes	On successful completion of the Graduate Diploma of Lifestyle Medicine, graduates will be able to: Acquire and apply specialised knowledge from evidence-based fields to the lifestyle medicine approach (K1) Assess and apply cognitive skills to identify, critically investigate, and synthesise solutions to lifestyle-related diseases, including diverse models of care, in a variety of health contexts including tropical, rural, and remote populations and Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives Work collaboratively and independently to design, evaluate, analyse and reflect on complex, transdisciplinary ideas and concepts that contribute to professional practice or scholarship with a lifestyle medicine approach Communicate theoretical concepts and complex ideas underpinning the lifestyle medicine approach to a variety of audiences, using high level oral and written English language and, where appropriate, numeracy skills Make high level, independent, and ethical judgements to implement and evaluate positive lifestyle behaviour changes as foundational to professional practice in healthcare, with personal as well as team responsibility and accountability Apply knowledge of research principles and methods to analyse and undertake a piece of scholarship and critically reflect on implications of findings for clinical practice in lifestyle medicine.

Inherent Requirements

Inherent Requirements	Inherent requirements are the identified abilities, attributes, skills, and behaviours that must be demonstrated, during the learning experience, to successfully complete a course. These abilities, attributes, skills, and behaviours preserve the academic integrity of the University's learning, assessment, and accreditation processes, and where applicable, meet the standards of a profession. For more information please visit: Postgraduate Medicine.
Reasonable adjustments	All JCU students have the opportunity to demonstrate, with reasonable adjustments where applicable, the inherent requirements for their course. For more information please visit: Student Disability Policy and Procedure.

Course Structure

CORE SUBJECTS

HS5800:03 Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine

HS5801:03 Health Coaching and Behaviour Change

HS5802:03 Models of Care and Innovation in Lifestyle Medicine

HS5810:03 Lifestyle Medicine Assessment and Prescription

HS7405:03 Research Methodologies for Health Professionals

OPTIONS

Select 6 credit points of subjects from List 1

List 1

HS5111:03 Alcohol and Other Drugs

TM5506:03 Social Science in Public Health

TM5502:03 Tropical Public Health

TM5510:03 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

Education

HS5405:03 Teaching for Learning in Health Professions

HS5409:03 Innovative Teaching in the Health Professions

HS7411:03 Leadership in Health Professional Education

Health Promotion

LB5202:03 Marketing Essentials

TM5528:03 Health Promotion

Research

TM5513:03 Public Health Management, Leadership, Planning and Policy

TM5515:03 Epidemiology for Public Health

TM5516:03 Biostatistics for Public Health

TM5526:03 Public Health Economics

TM5547:03 Public Health Program Planning and Evaluation

Location

COURSE AVAILABLE AT	NOTES
External	Mid-year entry available (Please note students will complete the course in 1.5 years when starting mid-year)

Candidature

Expected time to complete	1 year full time or part time equivalent
Maximum time to complete	3 years
Maximum leave of absence	1 year Please refer to the Coursework Enrolment Procedure

Progression

Course progression requisites	Nil
Course includes mandatory professional placement(s)	No
Course includes mandatory fieldwork	No
Special assessment requirements	Nil
Professional accreditation requirements	Nil
Supplementary exam for final subject	Not applicable

Credit

Eligibility	Students may apply for credit for previous tertiary study, approved training or informal and non-formal learning in accordance with the Credit Transfer Procedure
Maximum allowed	12 credit points except where a student transfers from one JCU award to another, then credit may be granted for more than two-thirds of the new award, where there is subject equivalence between the awards
Currency	Credit will be granted only for subjects completed in the 5 years prior to the commencement of this course
Expiry	Credit gained for any subject shall be cancelled 8 years after the date of the examination upon which the credit is based if, by then, the student has not completed this course.
Other restrictions	Not applicable

Award Details

Award title	GRADUATE DIPLOMA OF LIFESTYLE MEDICINE
Approved abbreviation	GDipLifeStyleMed
Exit with lesser award	Students who exit the course prior to completion, and have completed the appropriate subjects, may be eligible to receive a Graduate Certificate of Lifestyle Medicine offered by the Division of Tropical Health and Medicine.
Course articulation	Students who complete this course are eligible for entry to the Master of Lifestyle Medicine, and may be granted credit for all subjects completed under this course
Special awards	Students may receive an Award of Recognition in accordance with the Recognition of Academic Excellence Procedure

Fees and scholarships

A Student Services and Amenities fee is payable per subject up to a maximum amount per year.

A variety of Scholarships are available to suit different student types.

Pathways to JCU

Consult the admission requirements section in the Handbook for prerequisites and pathways into this course.

Inbound Cross-Institutional Study is available for some of the core Lifestyle Medicine subjects.
Submit the following forms to admissions@jcu.edu.au

How to apply

Complete an online application through our Online Application Portal.

Student

Taya Coates

Master of Lifestyle Medicine

My practice has been profoundly changed by the learnings of this course. I’ve told any colleague who would stand still long enough that they should check it out. Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about lifestyle medicine.
Student

Dr Eileen Gourley

Master of Lifestyle Medicine

Interesting, informative and highly relevant to modern healthcare. I have found this course hugely enjoyable, well curated and presented, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to advance their learning in the area of lifestyle medicine.
Lecturer

Dr Sam Manger

Course Coordinator

Studying lifestyle medicine at JCU is an incubator for exciting careers, projects and innovation in health care. There is rapidly growing evidence and demand for lifestyle medicine, whole of person care and whole of community care from the public, clinicians, researchers and industry.
Industry

Dr Joanna McMillan

Dietician, author and regular host of ABC's Catalyst program

I have worked for many years with Dr Manger as part of our ASLM events and conferences, and he leads the field with knowledge, passion and enthusiasm. Having the opportunity to undertake a course led by him is undoubtedly a fantastic opportunity and you can be assured of quality, evidence-based teaching.