Project Description
Philosophy of the Programme:
The M.Sc. Reproductive Health Programme is designed to address reproductive health (RH) and RH-related issues critical to development. The programme address vital issues such as safe motherhood; planned population, maternal and child hood mortality, HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections and other sociodemographic issues related to RH. The aspiration is to train qualified individuals to international standards in order to greatly impact in improving reproductive health policies and services by producing cohorts of postgraduates that meet current developmental challenges related to reproductive health and rights in developing countries especially in the Africa sub-region. Internships in industries, exchange programmes and applied research are innovative components of the training programme that will better equip graduates in implementing prevention programmes with socio-cultural peculiarities
The programme is specially beneficial for individuals working or intends to work in vital areas of Reproductive Health (RH) that address RH policies, family planning, prevention of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections, maternal and childhood mortalities and gynaecological cancer prevention programmes. The graduates of this programme are expected to also provide services in Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs) and academic institutions.
Programme Objectives
The M.Sc. Reproductive Health course is designed to provide students with detailed background knowledge and skills required to formulate and execute preventive programmes and to carry out applied research in Reproductive Health and critically appraise the findings. Linkage to industries is an innovative objective of this programme.
Expected Learning Outcomes
The expected learning outcomes of the M. Sc. Programme in Reproductive Health include:
- 1. Understanding the main Reproductive Health challenges: Obstetric morbidity and mortality, unsafe motherhood; unwanted pregnancies; reproductive tract diseases including cancers, sexually transmitted infections, gender issues, adolescence, the concept of planning for family which consist of family planning and infertility treatment.
- 2. Obtaining skills for analyzing the determinants and consequences of reproductive ill health: epidemiology, statistics, demography and social
science. - 3. Ability to design research interventions focused on improving Reproductive Health through services and policies emphasizing preventive measures and mindful of socio-cultural peculiarities.
- 4. Acquisition of skills in protocol design, grant applications and presentations of research findings; monitory and evaluation of Reproductive Health programmes.
- 5. Computer literacy at an acceptable level of competence.
Course Details
PROGRAMME TITLE
The programmes shall be titled: Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Reproductive Health
STRUCTURE OF THE PROGRAMME
The duration of the programme shall be a minimum of 12 months and a maximum
of 24 months. The programme shall consist of 34 credits units of course work and
a project of 6 credits (Total 40 Credits). The spread of the courses and credit units
is as shown below:
| Year | Semester | Number of Courses |
Credit Units | Total Credit Units |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 10 | 20 | 20 | |
| 2nd | 6 | 14 | 14 | |
| (Thesis) | 6 | 6 | ||
| Total | 16 + Thesis | 40 | 40 |
The programme will be based in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, University of Benin with inputs from relevant Departments in the University
TABLE 2: ASSESSMENT AND GRADING
Assessment and grading of course and project are on the basis of the following scale:
| %Score | Alphabetic Grade | Grade | Point |
|---|---|---|---|
| 70 – 100 | A | Excellent | 5 |
| 60 – 69 | B | Very good | 4 |
| 50 – 59 | C | Pass | 3 |
| 0 – 49 | D | Fail | 0 |
Students must obtain a minimum of C (50%) in all prescribed courses and the project to pass. Assessment would be 70% Examination and 30% Continuous Evaluation/Assessment.
CONDITIONS FOR GRADUATION
The following conditions must be met to qualify for graduation.
1. Passing the written examinations for the various courses at the respective semester examinations. For internship periods, there shall be no examinations but individual student reports shall be graded in accordance with departmental assessment schemes stipulated for that purpose.
2. Satisfactory defense of a completed thesis or dissertation in accordance with stipulated guidelines of the Postgraduate School for such purpose.
CONDITIONS FOR WITHDRAWAL
A student who fails a course in any semester must re-register for the course during the corresponding semester in the following year. No student shall be allowed to retake a failed course more than twice. Any student who fails to earn 8 credits in the first semester or 15 credits at the end of the first year (first and second semesters combined) shall be required to withdraw from the programme. A student who cannot complete the entire programme (including the project) within the University stipulated maximum period of 24 months shall be asked to withdraw from the programme.
TABLE 1: COURSES, COURSE CONTENTS AND CREDITS FOR
FIRST SEMESTER
| COURSE TITLE |
CONTENTS | COURSE CREDITS (Total = 40) |
|---|---|---|
| FIRST SEMESTER | ||
| OGRH 811 | Reproductive Health: Introduction and Foundation | 2 |
| OGRH 812 | Reproductive Health: Anatomy and Physiology of the Reproductive system |
3 |
| OGRH 813 | Social Sciences; Behavioural and Social Dimensions to Reproductive Health |
2 |
| OGRH 814 | Reproductive Health Issues: Maternal Morbidity and Mortality; Safe Motherhood including fetal surveillance and perinatal mortality |
3 |
| OGRH 815 | Concepts and Practice of Emergency Obstetric Care | 2 |
| OGRH 816 | Reproductive Health Issues: Adolescent Sexuality including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases |
2 |
| OGRH 817 | Principles and Practice of Epidemiology in Reproductive Health |
2 |
| OGRH 818 | Reproductive Health Issues: Fertility and Infertility in a developing economy; Contraception; Population, Development and Counseling |
2 |
| OGRH 819 | Health Economics for Developing Countries | 2 |
| OGRH 899 | Research Project Thesis (preliminaries – proposals, literature reviews, Seminars and data collection commenced in thissemester) |
0 |
| TOTAL CREDITS | 20 |
|---|
TABLE 2: COURSES, COURSE CONTENTS AND CREDITS FOR
SECOND SEMESTER
| Year 1 | SECOND SEMESTER | COURSE CREDITS |
|---|---|---|
| OGRH 820 |
Reproductive Health Issues: Gynaecological and Breast Cancers |
3 |
| OGRH 821 |
Reproductive Health Laws, Ethical Issues in Reproductive Health |
2 |
| OGRH 822 |
Abortion, post- abortion care and Abortion Debate | 2 |
| OGRH 823 |
Evidence Based Medicine in Reproductive Health, Research Ethics, Research design and Research Methodology |
3 |
| OGRH 824 |
Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of | 2 |
| OGRH825 | Reproductive Health Programmes 2 OGRH825 Health statistics with Computing |
2 |
| OGRH 899 |
Research Project Thesis ( continued – Seminars, data collection, analysis and defence) |
6 |
| TOTAL CREDITS | 20 |