Survey of different types of field epidemiology training programs in China

Abstract

Objective To understand the current status,type,and effect of training programs conducted by Health Bureau and CDC in China.Methods One person of each province was selected from China field epidemiology training network and designated as contact person who was responsible for collecting information of field practical training lasting for at least 6 months for staff of public health emergency and infectious disease control in each province from October 2001 to October 2010.Questionnaire including basic condition,organization and management,training design,faculty condition,trainee condition and training outputs was designed and filled in by contact person.Results There were 35 training programs covering over 9 provinces in China.The first province and city FETP started in 2004,including Guangdong FETP,Zhejiang FETP,Hangzhou FETP,Ningbo FETP and Guizhou FETP.Thirty-five training programs had 355 mentors,22(6％)were CFETP graduates and 57 (16％)were local FETP graduates.All program funds were paid by local governments.The training programs included two parts,theoretical lectures and field practice,which occupying 10％-20％ and 80％-90％ of the whole training time,respectively.Among 6 evaluative items including emergency investigation,surveillance analysis,surveillance evaluation,planned investigation,investigation report and paper publication,most programs(50％-94％) had less than average one person per time.Conclusions Field epidemiology training program after several years of development in china achieves the certain scale.Some provincial programs are successful,but the effect and quality of training programs in different areas are uneven.We suggest optimizing of field epidemiology training resources and further expanding China field epidemiology training network. Key words: Field epidemiology training program; Training effect; Inventory survey