Workforce Development

• André AM, Lopez A, Perkins S, et al. (2017). Frontline field epidemiology training programs as a strategy to improve disease surveillance and response. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 23(S1), S166-73.
  • Since 1980, Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) have trained highly qualified field epidemiologists to work for ministries of health (MOH) around the world. However, the 2013–2015 Ebola epidemic in West Africa demonstrated a lack of field epidemiologists at the local level. In 2015, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) launched FETP-Frontline, a 3-month field training program targeting local MOH staff in 24 countries to augment local public health capacity. This article describes the process and early results on the implementation of FETP-Frontline.

• Arvelo W, Gura Z, Amwayi S, et al. (2015). Establishing a field epidemiology elective for medical students in Kenya: A strategy for increasing public health awareness and workforce capacity. Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health, 5(1), 33-39.
  • Medical students have limited exposure to field epidemiology, even though will assume public health roles after graduation. This study reports on a 10-week elective in field epidemiology during medical school. The authors conclude that implementing an elective in field epidemiology within medical training is a highly acceptable strategy to increase awareness for public health among medical students.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018). Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP). Atlanta: CDC.
  • The CDC works to respond to health threats with increasing timeliness and effectiveness. The Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) trains field epidemiologists around the world, giving them the necessary skills to collect, analyze and interpret data and contribute to evidence-based decisions.

• Chen L, Evans T, Anand S, et al. (2004). Human resources for health: overcoming the crisis.  Lancet, 364(9449), 1984-90.
  • In this analysis of the global workforce, the Joint Learning Initiative proposes that mobilization and strengthening of human resources for health, neglected yet critical, is central to combating health crises in some of the world’s poorest countries and for building sustainable health systems in all countries. Nearly all countries are challenged by worker shortage, skill mix imbalance, maldistribution, negative work environment, and weak knowledge base. Especially in the poorest countries, the workforce is under assault by HIV/AIDS, out-migration, and inadequate investment. Effective country strategies should be backed by international reinforcement. Ultimately, the crisis in human resources is a shared problem requiring shared responsibility for cooperative action.

• Drehobl P, Stover BH, Koo D. (2014). On the road to a stronger public health workforce: visual tools to address complex challenges. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(5), S280-85.            
  • The public health workforce is vital to protecting the health and safety of the public, yet for years, state and local governmental public health agencies have reported substantial workforce losses and other challenges to the workforce that threaten the public’s health. These challenges are complex, often involve multiple influencing or related causal factors, and demand comprehensive solutions. However, proposed solutions often focus on selected factors and might be fragmented rather than comprehensive. This paper describes approaches to characterizing the situation more comprehensively and includes two visual tools that aid thinking about ways to strengthen the public health workforce through collective solutions and to help leverage resources and build on each other’s work.

• Gostin LO, Friedman EA. (2015). A retrospective and prospective analysis of the west African Ebola virus disease epidemic: robust national health systems at the foundation and an empowered WHO at the apex. Lancet, 385(9980), 1902-09.
  • The Ebola virus disease outbreak in west Africa is pivotal for the worldwide health system. Just as the depth of the crisis ultimately spurred an unprecedented response, the failures of leadership suggest the need for innovative reforms. Such reforms would transform the existing worldwide health system architecture into a purposeful, organized system with an empowered, highly capable WHO at its apex and enduring, equitable national health systems at its foundation. This analysis offers a template for these reforms, responding to the profound harms posed by fragile national health systems, delays in the international response, deficient resource mobilization, ill-defined responsibilities, and insufficient coordination. The scope of the reforms should address failures in the Ebola response, and entrenched weaknesses that enabled the epidemic to reach its heights.

• Jones DS, Dicker RC, Fontaine RE, et al. (2017). Building global epidemiology and response capacity with Field Epidemiology Training Programs. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 23(S1), S158-63.         
  • More than ever, competent field epidemiologists are needed worldwide. As known, new, and resurgent communicable diseases increase their global impact, the International Health Regulations and the Global Health Security Agenda call for sufficient field epidemiologic capacity in every country to rapidly detect, respond to, and contain public health emergencies, thereby ensuring global health security. To build this capacity, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has worked with countries around the globe to develop Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs). This article describes the traditional 2-year FETP that has been supported by CDC in many countries. It also describes the effect of FETPs; their role in the development of a public health workforce; and how FETPs are enhancing global health security.

• Jones D, Caceres V, Herrera-Guibert D. (2013). A tool for quality improvement of field epidemiology training programs: Experience with a new scorecard approach. Journal of Public Health and Epidemiology. 5(9), 385-90.
  • Field epidemiology training programs (FETP) are capacity building programs that provide applied epidemiology training to public health professionals for national public health systems, emphasizing evidence-based problem-solving. In this article, Jones and colleagues describe the use of a new tool that assists programs in the assessment of FETP implementation and performance in order to readily identify action steps for program improvement. The approach demonstrated early success in assisting programs in planning and was well accepted.

• López A, Cáceres VM. (2008). Central America Field Epidemiology Training Program (CA FETP): a pathway to sustainable public health capacity development. Human Resources for Health, 6(1), 27.  
  • The Central America Field Epidemiology Training Program (CA FETP) is a public health capacity-building training program aimed at developing high-caliber field epidemiologists at various levels of the public health system. It began in 2000 as part of the effort to rebuild public health infrastructure in six Central American and Caribbean and has evolved from one regional training program managed by CDC to several national FETPs with each country assuming ownership of its domestic program. This article describes the training model of the CA FETP, as well as the outcomes and impacts of the trainings.

• Olu O, Usman A, Kalambay K, et al. (2018). What should the African health workforce know about disasters? Proposed competencies for strengthening public health disaster risk management education in Africa. BMC Medical Education, 18, 60-70.
  • As part of efforts to implement the human resources capacity building component of the African Regional Strategy on Disaster Risk Management (DRM) for the health sector stakeholders have developed a multistage process to develop core competencies and curricula for training the African health workforce in public health DRM. In this article, the authors describe the methods used to develop the competencies, present the identified competencies and training curricula, and propose recommendations for their integration into the public health education curricula of African member states.

• Nguku P, Oyemakinde A, Sabitu K, et al. (2014). Training and Service in Public Health, Nigeria Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training, 2008 – 2014. The Pan African Medical Journal, 18(S1), 2.
  • The health workforce is a key building block for strengthening health systems. To strengthen public health systems in Africa, especially for disease surveillance and response, a number of countries have adopted a competency-based approach of training – Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP). The Nigeria FELTP was established in October 2008 as an in-service training program in field epidemiology, veterinary epidemiology and public health laboratory epidemiology and management. This article describes the Nigerian FELTP, reviews how the program has progressed, and discusses successes and shortcomings.
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• Schneider D, Evering-Watley M, Walke H, et al. (2011). Training the global public health workforce through applied epidemiology training programs: CDC’s experience, 1951–2011. Public Health Reviews, 33(1), 190-203.       
  • The strengthening of health systems is becoming increasingly recognized as necessary for the achievement of many objectives promoted or supported by global public health initiatives. Key within the effort to strengthen health systems is the development of a well-prepared, skilled, and knowledgeable public health workforce. This paper describes the 60 plus years of experience gained by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with developing training programs for field epidemiologists. It also describes its more recent efforts to strengthen the competencies of different cadres of public health staff and to support countries to strengthen their overall public health system infrastructures.

• Tappero JW, Cassell CH, Bunnell RE, et al. (2017). US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its partners’ contributions to global health security. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 23(S1), S5-15.
  • The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works with countries and partners to build and strengthen global health security preparedness so they can quickly respond to public health crises. This report highlights selected CDC global health protection platform accomplishments that help mitigate global health threats and build core, cross-cutting capacity to identify and contain disease outbreaks at their source.

• World Health Organization. (2016). Global strategy on human resources for health: workforce 2030. Geneva: WHO.
  • In May 2014, the Sixty-seventh World Health Assembly adopted resolution WHA67.24 on Follow-up of the Recife Political Declaration on Human Resources for Health: renewed commitments towards universal health coverage. In paragraph 4(2) of that resolution, Member States requested the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop and submit a new global strategy for human resources for health (HRH). This document is primarily aimed at planners and policy-makers of Member States, but its contents are of value to all relevant stakeholders in the health workforce area, including public and private sector employers, professional associations, education and training institutions, labour unions, bilateral and multilateral development partners, international organizations, and civil society.