The 2-week field epidemiology course for district surveillance officers

1. The 2-week field epidemiology course for district surveillance officers Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) district surveillance officers (DSO) course

2. What can adults learn? • Facts • Malaria is transmitted by anopheles • Skills • Investigate an outbreak with a case control study • Attitudes • Skepticism is the chastity of the mind: Don’t give it up for the first hypothesis passing by

3. Core competencies • Definition • Action-oriented statements that delineate the essential knowledge, skills and abilities in the performance of work responsibilities * • Attributes • Describable • Observable • Measurable Can you swim? * United States Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE)

4. Proposes core competencies for the 2-week IDSP DSO course • Handle data • Operate surveillance for decision making • Respond to limited, localized outbreaks • Exchange within the health system • Monitor surveillance activities Analyze surveillance data by time, place and personVoluntary limitation in scope: Almost no analytical epidemiology / statistics

5. Limitations of training programmes not based on core competencies • Completion of the course • Successful participation in the exam • Degree • Field work • Delivery of useful projects • Competency

6. Background to the course • Need to analyze/ use data at district level • Need of a competency-based course • Expected benefit • Address the need to analyze / use data in India • Integrate with other training programmes (2-year FETPs) • Developed, pilot-tested in July 2007 and modified

7. Audience • District surveillance officers engaged in IDSP • Challenges: • Obtain persons truly involved in IDSP • Obtain technical persons

8. How the curriculum was prepared • Core competencies defined • Breakdown in instructional goals • Selection of relevant learning techniques • Preparation of material • Organization of field work

9. Differences between the classroom and the field • Classroom teaching • Structured • Concept-focused • Difficult to relate to field experience • Field practice • Unstructured • Routine-focused • Difficult to relate to the classroom training

10. Bridging the gap between the classroom and the field • Get the training out in the field during the contact sessions • Bring the scholar back to classroom concepts when in the field

11. a. Get the training out in the field during the contact sessions • Exercises / case studies / workshops • Field exercise

12. Case studies (Malaria in Darjeeling) / workshops (Chikungunya in Kadapa) • Principle • Solve a problem together • Direct work on a product, with facilitation • Dataset • Effectiveness • Real output • Facilitate peer-to-peer collaboration • Provide a taste for peer review

13. Field exercise • Consists in a complete investigation • Allows real field work • Builds social capital

14. b. Bring the participant back to classroom concepts when in the field • Direct to lectures and resources according to weaknesses • Structure field tools using classroom documents • Use errors to bring back concepts • Use checklist to review field reports

15. Learning techniques used in the two-week IDSP course for district surveillance officers

16. Components of the course • Participative sessions • Exercises / computer practical • Case studies • Malaria in Darjeeling • Chikungunya in Kadapa • Cholera in Parbatia • Field exercise • Analysis of real surveillance data • Pre- and post test • Field assignment • Analysis of real surveillance data