National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Building 62 Mills Road, Acton, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
University of Newcastle, Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Hum Resour Health. 2021 Apr 29;19(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s12960-021-00603-1.
Rapid and effective emergency response to address health security relies on a competent and suitably trained local and international workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that the health security workforce needs to be well equipped to tackle current and future challenges. In this study, we explored whether training in applied epidemiology was meeting the current needs of the applied epidemiology workforce.
We conducted a cross-sectional online survey that was available in English and French. We used purposive and snowballing sampling techniques to identify potential survey respondents. An online social media advertisement campaign was used to disseminate a REDCap survey link between October 2019 and February 2020 through field epidemiology networks. Survey questions included demographic details of participants, along with their technical background, level of formal education, topics studied during epidemiology training, and years of experience as an epidemiologist. We used Pearson Chi-squared (Chi) to test the difference between categorical variables, and content analysis to evaluate responses to open-ended questions.
In total, 282 people responded to the survey. Participants had a range of formal public health and epidemiology training backgrounds. Respondents applied epidemiology experience spanned almost 30 years, across 64 countries. Overall, 74% (n = 210) were alumni of Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETP). Basic outbreak and surveillance training was well reported by respondents, however training in specialised techniques related to emergency response, communication, and leadership was less common. FETP graduates reported higher levels of formal training in all survey topics.
It is critical for the health security workforce to be well-trained and equipped with skills needed to ensure a rapid and effective response to acute public health events. Leadership, communication, interpersonal skills, and specialist training in emergency response are lacking in current training models. Our study has demonstrated that applied epidemiology workforce training must evolve to remain relevant to current and future public health challenges.
快速有效地应对卫生安全事件依赖于一支有能力且经过适当培训的本地和国际工作人员队伍。COVID-19 大流行凸显出卫生安全工作队伍需要具备应对当前和未来挑战的能力。在这项研究中，我们探讨了应用流行病学培训是否满足应用流行病学工作队伍的当前需求。
我们进行了一项横断面在线调查，该调查提供英语和法语两种版本。我们使用有针对性和滚雪球抽样技术来确定潜在的调查对象。通过现场流行病学网络，在 2019 年 10 月至 2020 年 2 月期间，我们使用在线社交媒体广告活动来传播 REDCap 调查链接。调查问题包括参与者的人口统计学细节，以及他们的技术背景、正规教育水平、流行病学培训中学习的主题和作为流行病学家的工作年限。我们使用 Pearson Chi-squared (Chi) 检验来检验分类变量之间的差异，并使用内容分析法评估对开放式问题的回答。
共有 282 人对调查做出了回应。参与者具有不同的正规公共卫生和流行病学培训背景。受访者应用流行病学经验跨越近 30 年，分布在 64 个国家。总体而言，74%（n=210）是现场流行病学培训计划（FETP）的校友。受访者报告了基本的暴发和监测培训，但应急响应、沟通和领导力方面的专门技术培训则较少。FETP 毕业生报告在所有调查主题方面接受了更高水平的正规培训。
卫生安全工作队伍必须接受良好的培训，具备确保对急性公共卫生事件做出快速有效应对所需的技能。领导力、沟通、人际交往能力以及应急方面的专业培训在当前的培训模式中较为缺乏。我们的研究表明，应用流行病学工作队伍的培训必须与时俱进，以适应当前和未来的公共卫生挑战。
