Tripathy Jaya Prasad, Lakshmi Pvm, Anand Tanu, Deshmukh Pradeep R
Department of Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Nagpur, India.
Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Ann Glob Health. 2024 Dec 30;90(1):84. doi: 10.5334/aogh.4606. eCollection 2024.
Mathematical models are not integrated into the policy‑making process in low‑ and middle‑income countries, including India, primarily due to limited capacity in building mathematical models, lack of trust in the model findings and the reluctance of policy‑makers to apply the model findings to formulate policies. There is a perceived need to create a critical mass of trained infectious disease experts and modelers within the public health and clinical domain. Thus, with the support of the Department of Health Research (DHR), we developed a 3‑month post‑graduate (PG) certificate course on infectious disease modelling, the first of such a course in India. The first cycle of the course was delivered during July to September 2024, which produced the first cohort of 20 infectious disease modellers in the country. This paper describes the structure, content and key components of the first course along with the experiences, strengths, challenges and way forward from the participants' perspective using a mixed methods approach. Most of the participants felt that the learning objectives were clear ( = 18, 90%), course content was well organised and delivered ( = 19, 95%) and the course structure allowed all participants to fully participate ( = 19, 95%) in the learning process. The strengths of the course were: hybrid mode of delivery, well‑designed course content, theory lectures followed by practical sessions, regular trainer-trainee communication, interactive discussion forums and the 3‑day contact workshop. The key challenges were non‑availability of recorded videos, evening timings of the sessions and difficulty of some topics. The challenges and recommendations will feed into the subsequent course cycles. Future courses are planned to be hosted on an online platform to facilitate participant completion of the course at their own pace. More collaboration with various stakeholders, nationally and internationally, will be sought to improve the content, delivery and robustness of the program.
数学模型未被纳入包括印度在内的低收入和中等收入国家的政策制定过程，主要原因是建立数学模型的能力有限、对模型结果缺乏信任以及政策制定者不愿将模型结果应用于政策制定。人们认为有必要在公共卫生和临床领域培养一批关键的训练有素的传染病专家和建模人员。因此，在卫生研究部（DHR）的支持下，我们开发了一个为期3个月的传染病建模研究生证书课程，这是印度首个此类课程。该课程的第一个周期于2024年7月至9月进行，培养出了该国首批20名传染病建模人员。本文采用混合方法，从参与者的角度描述了第一期课程的结构、内容和关键组成部分，以及经验、优势、挑战和未来方向。大多数参与者认为学习目标明确（n = 18，90%），课程内容组织良好且授课方式得当（n = 19，95%），课程结构使所有参与者都能充分参与（n = 19，95%）学习过程。该课程的优势包括：混合授课模式、精心设计的课程内容、理论讲座后接实践课程、培训师与学员定期沟通、互动式讨论论坛以及为期3天的面授研讨会。关键挑战包括没有录制视频、课程安排在晚上以及一些主题难度较大。这些挑战和建议将纳入后续课程周期。未来的课程计划在在线平台上举办，以便学员能够按照自己的节奏完成课程。将寻求与国内和国际的各利益相关方开展更多合作，以改进该项目的内容、授课方式和稳健性。
