• Charles Sturt University has received federal government funding to develop and offer a new, free microcredential course for high school leavers from late 2023
• The ‘micro’ course is the equivalent of two first-year university subjects, and if completed successfully, students gain credit for two first-year physics subjects
• There is a workforce shortage across nuclear medicine in Australia and globally

Starting in late 2023, Charles Sturt University will offer a new microcredential course in nuclear science for current or recent high school graduates, as well as those looking to develop their understanding of nuclear safety.

The University has received more than $70,000 in funding to design the new microcredential course about nuclear science and safety under Round One of the Australian Government’s Microcredentials Pilot in Higher Education. This program also provides further funding for delivery, which the Government has committed to enable a number of free places for students.

Professor in Nuclear Medicine Geoff Currie, AM, (pictured, inset) in the Charles Sturt School of Dentistry and Medical Sciences and colleagues Professor Janelle Wheat and Ms Amber Marks successfully applied for the funding for the microcredential, ‘Fundamentals of Nuclear Science and Safety’.

Professor Currie said the ‘micro’ looks at the physics of nuclear and radiation from a principles perspective, rather than computational, and is more focussed on how students might use it in their careers than on general physics.

“There is a workforce shortage across nuclear medicine in Australia, and globally, and the micro is designed to create a pathway into the nuclear medicine course at Charles Sturt University and of course the profession,” Professor Currie said.

The microcredential will be designed in collaboration with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) and provide an alternative entry pathway into the University’s nuclear medicine, radiation therapy and diagnostic radiography courses.

“The micro course is the equivalent of two first-year university subjects and if completed successfully students would get credit for the two first-year physics subjects,” Professor Currie said.

“This means students would not have to do the first-year physics subjects, and, even better, the government is paying the uni fees for the micro so it also reduces students’ HECS/HELP debt because they won’t have to pay for the micro – it’s free.

“It also means the students get a head-start on their degree, reducing their workload to 75 per cent in the first year at university, which is usually the biggest workload across the four years.”

Professor Currie will teach the core content, and guest lecturers from Australia, USA and Canada who are recognised experts will share how the micro course integrates into their ‘real world’.

The micro-credential will be delivered online, meaning students have no requirement to attend face-to-face classes. The course content is recorded and available online, with virtual discussions and engagement opportunities with experts via zoom.

One consideration for potential students starting university in 2024 is that the first microcredential course will be delivered in Session Three 2023, from 13 November 2023 to 2 February 2024, with a break for Christmas-New Year.

“This means students have time to unwind from Year 12 and ‘schoolies’, then gives them three to four weeks break before uni starts,” Professor Currie said.

If students are interested in nuclear medicine for entry in 2025 (that is, for students in Year 11 now, or those taking a gap year in 2024, or those returning to study), they can commence their studies in 2024 during the second offering of the subject which will be in 2024 over Sessions One and Two, to enable them to manage this work while doing Year 12 studies or paid work.

Charles Sturt Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Graham Brown said, “This is a great example of the University’s Education Strategy’s Microcredentials and Short Courses Project in action and the headway the University is making in the expanding short-course market”.

Professor Currie will be available to speak to students at Charles Sturt Open Days at Wagga Wagga (10am-3pm Sunday 6 August), Albury-Wodonga (10am-2pm Sunday 13 August) and Orange (10am-1pm Sunday 27 August).

Students can also register their interest in the micro course via the QR code (left). In the drop-down menu choose either the ‘Nuclear medicine pathway program’ or the ‘Fundamentals of nuclear science and safety’ options. They are the same micro course, but with two names to help students find what they are looking for in terms of their areas of focus.