Back

Advance your career as a health professional with specialist knowledge and technical skills in designing, managing and evaluating rehabilitation plans within a variety of health contexts.

Save

Download brochure

#1

in Queensland for full-time employment outcomes* *Good Universities Guide 2022, PG Health Services

#1

in Australia for median graduate salary, $110,400* *Good Universities Guide 2022, PG Health Services

Five stars

for learning resources* *Good Universities Guide 2022, PG Health Services

Online

Online: February, July

$28,440.00^{^}

^{^}estimated annual tuition fee for a full-time study load

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

1 year full-time

or part-time equivalent

AQF level 7 bachelor degree in a relevant health discipline; or B Physiotherapy, B Occupational Therapy, or B Speech Pathology

114807

What to expect

Maximise your professional expertise and extend your knowledge and skills in rehabilitation. In this one-year, full-time (or equivalent part-time) course, students choose from two streams — coursework or coursework and research — to build specialist knowledge, skills, and technical capability across a range of health contexts.

With a focus on tropical, rural, remote and Indigenous communities, you will undertake core subjects and select one of four majors (outlined below).

Students enrolling in this course as a pathway to a PhD must complete the coursework/research stream. Graduates may be eligible for credit towards a Master of Rehabilitation.

View the handbook for a detailed overview of subjects.

Majors

General

Enhance your health professional expertise in the field of rehabilitation across a variety of settings and client populations. Learn how to critically appraise and analyse research publications in the fields of health and rehabilitation and gain greater insight into the application of evidence-based practice.

Occupational Therapy

Extend your occupational therapy and rehabilitation knowledge to enable you to deliver services to people with chronic conditions or disability in a range of settings. You will develop advanced assessment and management skills in relation to rehabilitation and build a greater understanding of the research and theory base underpinning a range of health care domains.

Physiotherapy

Work with some of Australia’s most highly regarded physiotherapy and health professionals to expand your existing professional skills and experience. You will explore rehabilitation for people with chronic conditions, as well as specialty areas of practice such as burns, amputees and women's health. Develop advanced assessment and management skills in relation to rehabilitation, whilst applying evidence-based practice across a range of settings.

Speech Pathology

Be equipped with the most up-to-date knowledge and practical skills in the field of speech pathology. Enhance your current professional qualification/s to explore more specialised methods of diagnosing and managing adults and children with complex communication and swallowing disorders. This major will enhance your ability to apply evidence-based practice to optimise functional communication and quality of life.

Career Opportunities

A Graduate Diploma of Rehabilitation from JCU will equip you with recognised professional development that will increase your leadership skills and develop your career in a rehabilitation-related area of healthcare.

Graduates pursue careers in various areas including acute wards and rehabilitation settings with public and private health providers, aged care, private practice, policy development, or research.

You could pursue your specialisation in roles such as clinician, case manager, or researcher.

Handbook

Graduate Diploma of Rehabilitation

Handbook year	2022
Course Code	114807
Course type	Graduate Diploma (AQF Level 8)
Owner	Division of Tropical Health and Medicine
College	Healthcare Sciences

Award Requirements

Admission Requirements

Course pre-requisites	Completion of an AQF level 7 bachelor degree in a relevant health discipline, from this or another university (General major); or Applicants must have completed at least an AQF level 7 Bachelor of Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy or Speech Pathology at an Australian university or hold an equivalent international entry level qualification in one of these professions (Physiotherapy major, Occupational Therapy major or Speech Pathology major). Note: Completion of this program will not enable Australian registration of overseas qualified health professionals.
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. For students undertaking the Speech Pathology major, an overall IELTS of 7.0 with a minimum writing score of 6.0; speaking score of 8.0; reading and listening score of 7.0 is required.
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.
Post admission requirements	Telephone and computer access with internet. Some subjects will require mixed mode attendance at the Townsville campus.

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 Rehabilitation graduates will be able to:

Apply and adapt advanced knowledge within a systematic and coherent body of theoretical knowledge, skills and technical competencies across diverse contexts as a health professional
Design assessment, management and evaluation plans for culturally and demographically diverse peoples, especially in tropical, rural, remote and Indigenous communities
Retrieve, critically evaluate, synthesise and apply established and evolving evidence in order to develop solutions for complex problems in health professional practice
Communicate theoretical knowledge, therapy concepts, treatment options and professional decisions using high-level oral and written English language and where appropriate, numeracy skills to a variety of audiences
Demonstrate responsibility and accountability for future professional development requirements based on reflection on current skills, knowledge and attitudes.
Apply knowledge of research principles and methods to design, analyse and ethically implement research and critically reflect on implications of findings for clinical practice.

Course Structure

Students can choose from 2 streams: (1) coursework or (2) coursework and research; and from 4 majors: General, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy or Speech Pathology. If students enrol in this course as a pathway to a PhD, they must complete the coursework/research stream.

CORE SUBJECTS

RH5200:03 Rehabilitation Research and Evidence Based Practice

RH5202:03 Rehabilitation for Chronic Conditions

OPTIONS

Select a major (discipline area) from Table A

PLUS

Select Option 1 (Coursework subjects) or Option 2 (Coursework/Research subjects)

OPTION 1 (COURSEWORK)

Select 9 credit points of specified level 5 subjects from List 1

PLUS

Select 3 credit points of any postgraduate subject (can be cross-institutional if approved by the Course Coordinator)

List 1

HS5102:03 Qualitative Research Methods for Health Professionals

HS5800:03 Introduction to Lifestyle Medicine

HS5801:03 Health Coaching and Behaviour Change

HS5802:03 Models of Care and Innovation in Lifestyle Medicine

HS5803:03 Lifestyle Medicine Assessment and Prescription

NS5342:03 Principles of Education for the Health Professional

OT5200:03 Advanced Practice Within the Rural and Remote Context

OT5202:03 Cultural Competency Principles in Australian Healthcare Practice

RH5201:03 Rehabilitation for Disability Across the Lifespan

RH5205:03 Palliative Care for Health Professionals

RH5206:03 Assistive Technology Strategies to Enable Personal Autonomy

TM5515:03 Epidemiology for Public Health

TM5516:03 Biostatistics for Public Health

TM5528:03 Health Promotion

TM5540:03 Public Health and the Workplace

TM5541:03 Managing Effective Health Programs

OPTION 2 (COURSEWORK/RESEARCH)

RH5203:06 Research 1: A Literature Review – Part 1 of 2

RH5204:06 Research 2: A Research Project – Part 2 of 2

TABLE A (MAJORS)

Type of major	Mandatory, single
Credit points in major	6 credit points
Special requirements	Nil

MAJOR	AVAILABLE AT	NOTES
General	External	Some subjects may require face-to-face attendance on campus in Townsville
Occupational Therapy	External	Some subjects may require face-to-face attendance on campus in Townsville
Physiotherapy	External	Some subjects may require face-to-face attendance on campus in Townsville
Speech Pathology	External	Some subjects may require face-to-face attendance on campus in Townsville

Location

COURSE AVAILABLE AT	NOTES
External	Some subjects may require face-to-face attendance at the Townsville campus

Candidature

Expected time to complete	1 year full-time or equivalent part-time
Maximum time to complete	4 years
Maximum leave of absence	1 year

Progression

Course progression requisites	Nil
Course includes mandatory professional placement(s)	Yes
Special assessment requirements	At the discretion of the College Dean, students may be required to undertake a prescribed English language test to ensure that they have an acceptable level of English language proficiency, including at least at the level required to be admitted to the course, to safely participate in professional experience placements.
Professional accreditation requirements	Not applicable
Supplementary exam for final subject	A candidate who has failed the final subject towards the award and who gained 40% or more of the marks for that subject may be granted a supplementary examination in that subject. However if that subject is required for accreditation, then the criteria specified by that accreditation will apply.

Credit

Eligibility	Students may apply for a credit transfer for previous tertiary study or informal and non-formal learning in accordance with the Credit Transfer Procedure
Maximum allowed	9 credit points, unless students have completed the Graduate Certificate of Rehabilitation, in which case they may be eligible for up to 12 credit points of credit for appropriate subjects.
Currency	Credit will be granted only for studies completed in the 5 years prior to the commencement of this course.
Expiry	Credit gained for any subject shall be cancelled 9 years after the date of the examination upon which the credit is based if, by then, the candidate has not completed the course of study prescribed for this course.
Other restrictions	Not applicable

Award Details

Award title	GRADUATE DIPLOMA OF REHABILITATION
Approved abbreviation	GDipRehab
Inclusion of majors on testamur	The major will appear on the testamur
Exit with lesser award	Candidates who exit the course prior to completion, and have completed 12 credit points of appropriate subjects, may be eligible for the award of Graduate Certificate of Rehabilitation
Course articulation	Students admitted to a Graduate Diploma of Rehabilitation may after completion of that award, gain credit for those studies towards a Master of Rehabilitation

Fees and scholarships

Estimated annual tuition fee: $AUD28,440.00

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.

How to apply

Complete an online application through our Online Application Portal.

Student

Tamara Matulick

Master of Rehabilitation

Doing the Master of Rehabilitation will help with career progression — especially in getting jobs I wouldn’t otherwise be able to get. You have to manage your time between work and study, but I think you’re more motivated as a learner because you’ve had situations where you can apply your experience and knowledge to.
Alumni

Daniel Behary

MBBS Student (JCU), MRehab (JCU), BPhty (USYD)

What inspired me to undertake Master of Rehabilitation at James Cook University is my passion for Interventional Cardiology and interest in Medical research. This course offered me the opportunity to explore the benefits of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation which is often required for patients with advanced heart disease.
Lecturer

Moira Smith

Course Coordinator, Rehabilitation

The Master of Rehabilitation is an exciting pathway in your healthcare career. There is a great variety of subjects to help upskill in the area of rehabilitation, addressing perspectives from many different disciplines. Whatever your aim, this course will assist the development of your skill set in rehabilitation.
Employer

Kathy Luke

RAR Therapy Director

This course provides practical and evidence-based clinical skills that apply to the community work environment and ultimately benefit our clients. With an increased need for highly skilled therapists in community settings, this course is perfect for extending therapists’ knowledge and skills for clinical practice.