Applied Epidemiology Training: A Key Component of the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI)

Abstract

In 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with support from the Office of the U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC) began an applied epidemiology training component within the Medical Education Partnership Initiative (MEPI). MEPI was developed to expand and enhance medical education in sub-Saharan African countries that receive support from the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). This mentored initiative includes pre-service and in-service training being developed collaboratively by CDC’s Division of Public Health Systems and Workforce Development (DPHSWD), Division of Global HIV/AIDS (DGHA), and Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (DHQP) and implemented in Kenya and Zimbabwe. MEPI is designed to enhance critical public health competency gained within medical education and improve surveillance and response capacity at the district level by targeting medical students and recent medical graduates who are (or will be) charged with managing their country’s public health programs. To accomplish this goal, DPHSWD facilitates a partnership among the country’s Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP), Ministry of Health (MOH), and the respective MEPI-partner medical school. Program Description By leveraging FETPs and working collaboratively with ministries of health and in-country academic institutions, CDC improves public health capacity in Africa by providing medical students with hands-on public health experience in gathering data for decision making, managing outbreaks, and conducting surveillance and response. For example, in consultation with the MEPI-supported University of Zimbabwe and University of Nairobi medical schools, FETPs are adapting and integrating evidence-based surveillance and epidemiology curricula and field exercises into the standard coursework. The applied epidemiology training is currently being offered for 4th year medical students. In addition, the FETP graduates and respective MOH are identifying recent medical graduates to participate in a six-month training course on public health surveillance and response. During the training, medical graduates participate in a 2-week classroom session followed by a field practicum in epidemiology mentored by a FETP graduate. To strengthen capacity for identification and prevention of healthcareassociated infections, FETP in collaboration with DHQP is designing trainingmaterials on infection control and hospital epidemiology, which will be integrated into both the in-service and pre-service training.