Postgraduate education is important in preparing and enhancing health professionals for the practice of disaster and terror medicine. The World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) has formulated a standardized international perspective for education and training in disaster medicine and health. Notwithstanding, there continues to be a reported gap in competency-based training in disaster and terror medicine internationally, particularly across Asia Pacific, which is a known vulnerable region. We report on a new Graduate Diploma in Disaster and Terror Medicine, to be expanded to Master level in 2024. The course is delivered mainly online to a multidisciplinary international audience. This paper summarizes the development of the course and outlines the key influences that have contributed to the design of the course.

A survey of the critical care workforce conducted by the Department of Critical Care at the University of Melbourne in early 2020 identified the need to develop education in disaster and terror medicine. A market and competitor analysis identified there was a gap in clinician focused courses offered in Australia and internationally. Based upon these results, a new course was developed to meet these needs.

Based on the results of the survey and feedback from expert stakeholders, the new postgraduate courses in disaster and terror medicine were developed. They offer both core and elective subjects, utilizing a modular approach with supervised simulation and practical training. The courses incorporate problem-based learning, the principles and practices of online education and advances in simulation-based learning, providing both a public health and clinical lens.

The nested suite of postgraduate disaster and terror medicine courses at the University of Melbourne is at the forefront of learning within this field and meets the contemporary needs of health professionals who practice disaster and terror medicine