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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Jennifer A. Horney, MA, MPH, Erin E. Rothney, MPH, and Rachel Wilfert, MD, MPH. North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Campus Box 8165, 400 Roberson, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, 919-966-4085, rachel_wilfert@unc.edu

The Certificate Program in Community Preparedness and Disaster Management was created in 2002 by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health (SPH) and consists of four semester-long Internet courses. The North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness partnered with SPH to conduct an evaluation of the program. The goals of the program are to aid students in: 1) understanding the issues facing disaster management; 2) learning tools of analysis and concrete administrative aids; 3) improving their overall ability to administer systems and complex programs; 4) networking with leaders/peers within the disaster management community. One portion of the evaluation occurs immediately after graduation and aims to assess participant satisfaction with the program; the other component occurs six months following completion of the program and aims to assess the effectiveness of the program on long term job function. Over 80 people have completed the program since its inception. Immediately following completion, 96% of participants indicated learning something entirely new during the program, including cost/benefit analysis (68%) and the structure of healthcare response (68%). 79% indicated they found the program useful for professional networking. At six months post-completion, 93% indicated that they had applied new skills or concepts learned in the program to their current jobs. 97% have shared knowledge or materials from the program with others, either individually or through a presentation. Over half gained knowledge that helped them perform new job responsibilities in emergency preparedness and disaster management for which they had no prior training.

Learning Objectives: