Integrated public health training

For the next two weeks we will be hosting an integrated public health training workshop for 70 junior-level Ministry of Health staff from Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Djibouti, Jordan and Afghanistan. We've been developing the curriculum and organizing logistics since I arrived in Cairo last fall, so it's exciting to finally see the event happening. But, at the same time, it's stressful to try to make sure everything comes together and we're able to pull of a professional, valuable training program.

The workshop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and provides an opportunity for junior-level laboratorians and epidemiologists to learn more about public health from an integrated approach that includes epidemiology, biostatistics, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, molecular diagnostics, entomology, biosafety, biosecurity and numerous other topics. During each morning of the ten-day workshop, the entire group will meet together for lectures and discussions covering various topics; then, in the afternoons, the group will be divided into specific areas of focus for more specialized training. At the end of each week, we will bring the entire group back together for an outbreak simulation during which the group will be divided into teams and will have to work together to conduct a full outbreak investigation.

Hopefully everything will go smoothly and the participants will return to their home countries with a greater understanding of public health and improved skills for their work.