Epidemiology Competency Development and Application to Training for Local and Regional Public Health Practitioners

Abstract

In 2002, the Northwest Center for Public Health Practice (NWCPHP) at the University of Washington initiated the Epidemiology Competencies Project, with the goal of developing competency-based epidemiology training for non-epidemiologist public health practitioners in the northwestern United States. An advisory committee consisting of epidemiology faculty and experienced public health practitioners developed the epidemiology competencies. NWCPHP used the competencies to guide the development of in-person trainings, a series of online epidemiology modules, and a Web-based repository of epidemiology teaching materials. The epidemiology competencies provided a framework for collaborative work between NWCPHP and local and regional public health partners to develop trainings that best met the needs of a particular public health organization. Evaluation surveys indicated a high level of satisfaction with the online epidemiology modules developed from the epidemiology competencies. However, measuring the effectiveness of competency-based epidemiology training for expanding epidemiology knowledge and skills of the public health workforce remains a challenge.

The Training of Epidemiologists and Diversity in Epidemiology: Findings from the 2006 Congress of Epidemiology Survey

“…A 2004 assessment conducted by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists revealed that 48% of epidemiologists in state health departments had received no academic coursework in epidemiology (17). Twenty-nine percent of state health departments reported that fewer than half of their epidemiologists had participated in available training or education opportunities in 2003 (17). In2006, one-third of state public health departments reported a need for additional training in all epidemiology competency areas (18).…”

Preferred modalities for delivering continuing education to the public health workforce: a scoping review

“…We identified public health training programs delivered in over 11 countries: Australia, 10,16,17 Bolivia, 18 Brazil, 19 Canada, [20][21][22] Greece, 23 the Islamic Republic of Iran, 24 Mexico, 25 Rwanda, 26,27 Uganda, 28 the United Kingdom 29 and the United States of America (USA). [30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45] One program offered trainings in over 77 countries, 46 and another trained participants in Austria, Lithuania and the Netherlands. 9 Within the past 7 years, 19 of these articles were published.…”

“…The objectives of and the methods used to gather evaluations varied across studies. Approaches to evaluation included surveys; 26,27,38,42,43 pre/post questionnaires; 30,31,33,41 participant completion statistics; 19 interviews; 28,45 and mixed methods (a combination of either focus groups or interviews and surveys or questionnaires with participants). 9,10,[16][17][18][20][21][22][23][24][25]29,32,[34][35][36]39,40,44 Evaluations after participation captured participants' demographic information, subject knowledge before and after training, satisfaction with and post-training use of their newly gained knowledge.…”

Local Health Department Epidemiologic Capacity: A Stratified Cross-Sectional Assessment Describing the Quantity, Education, Training, and Perceived Competencies of Epidemiologic Staff

“…Further research utilizing a larger sample size is needed to more comprehensively explore potential explanations for these observations with sufficient power. Although LHDs serving smaller populations might tend to have higher reliance on outside assistance to adequately fulfill essential epidemiologic duties within a community, all public health workers should have a certain level of proficiency in basic epidemiologic tasks (2). …”

“…Although such duties within local health departments (LHDs) are often performed by employed epidemiologists, oftentimes the size of health departments will necessitate the assignment of many of these duties to staff members outside the designation of epidemiologist, such as public health nurses (1). Due to the variety of responsibilities entrusted to public health agencies, particularly with regard to emergency preparedness needs, it has been suggested that all public health workers should have certain levels of knowledge and skill, or competency, in performing epidemiologic tasks (2, 3). A heightened level of task competency of all department staff members functioning in epidemiologic roles could increase the total epidemiologic capacity of LHDs in the United States, enhancing their ability to efficiently detect, prevent, and control public health-related issues (4).…”