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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Mark McDonnell, MS¹, Timothy R. Sahr, MPH², Greg Halley, MD³, William D. Hayes, PhD², Robert Brems, MPH⁴, Mary Dennis, MPH⁵, Seitske DeFijter, MS⁶, and Robert Campbell, PhD⁶. (1) Greene County Health Department, 360 Wilson Drive, P.O. Box 250, Xenia, OH 45385, (2) The Health Policy Institute of Ohio, 37 West Broad Street, Suite 350, Columbus, OH 43215, (3) Wayne County Health Department, 202 South Walnut Street, Wooster, OH 44691, (4) Coshocton County Health Department, 1013 Walnut Street, Coshocton, OH 43812, (740) 202-2110, bbrems@zmchd.org, (5) Wood County Health Department, 1840 East Gypsy Lane Road, Bowling Green, OH 43402, (6) Ohio Department of Health, 260 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43266

In 2003, the Association of Ohio Health Commissioner's Salary and Employment Survey indicated that a gap exists between rural and metropolitan local health departments in terms of the count and expertise of epidemiology personnel. Generally, Ohio's metropolitan counties had graduate-trained practitioners, while the rural areas met their epidemiology functions with the most skilled personnel that they had within their agencies (usually holding a four- or two-year academic degree). Additionally, the survey indicated that many rural and small county health departments had difficulty recruiting and retaining graduate trained epidemiologists (those holding either an MPH or MS in public health or an associated discipline). As a response to these findings, a workforce development committee representing Ohio's public health stakeholders developed the Practice-Based Epidemiology Series (PBE Series) for epidemiology practitioners. Headed by the Ohio State University School of Public Health, the PBE Series provides core training in epidemiological methods, emphasizing the situations encountered within public health departments. The teaching philosophy for the PBE Series is one of practice-theory; blending theoretical basics to practice-based applications. The design core for the PBE Series is a series of five courses over three years: (1) Practice-Based Epidemiology using ActivEpi; (2) Infectious Disease Epidemiology; (3) Epidemiology of Natural and Man-Made Disasters; (4) Environmental Epidemiology; and (5) Public Health Field Epidemiology. Additional courses expanding the core model are: (6) Statistical Methods in Epidemiology; (7) Geographical Information Systems and Epidemiology; and (8) Nutritional Epidemiology. Currently, approximately 120 participants are enrolled in the initial three year series.

Learning Objectives:

• The assessment of statewide epidemiology practice needs;
• The development of practice-based epidemiology courses;
• The sponsoring of public health workforce methods training;
• Fostering government-university-private relationships around epidemiology training;
• Core topics in public health epidemiology applied methods.

Keywords: Training, Epidemiology

Related Web page: www-biostat.med.ohio-state.edu/summer_2006/pages/schedule.html

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No