The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #65952

Mitchel A Rosen, MS¹, Jim Morris², Leah Z. Ziskin, MD, MS³, Marcia M. Sass, ScD⁴, Sylvia H. Bookbinder, MPH, CHES⁵, and Richard Lynch, PhD, CIH⁴. (1) School of Public Health - Office of Public Health Practice, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 317 George Street, Suite 203, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, 7322359452, mrosen@umdnj.edu, (2) Cook College Continuing Professional Education, Rutgers University, 102 Ryders Lane, New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8519, (3) School of Public Health - Stratford Campus, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, 40 East Laurel Road, Suite 243, Stratford, NJ 08084, (4) UMDNJ-SPH, 40 E. Laurel Road, Stratford, NJ 08084-1350, (5) Health Education Consultant, 403 Kenwood Drive, Moorestown, NJ 08057

The availability of training and resources is essential for public health preparedness at the local level. Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey have developed an emergency preparedness training program for local public health professionals, specific for four primary local health job categories. The job classifications include health officer (administrator), health educator, environmental health specialist, and public health nurse. The training program is 40-hours in duration. The first 24 hours will be common to all participants, and include modules on bioterrorism planning, Incident Command System, Agents of Terrorism, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Legal Aspects. The last 16 hours will be specific to the target audience., and will include risk communication, planning, specifics on food, water and air safety, as well as several other topics. The presentation will describe the 1) needs assessment methods used to identify the topics; 2) partnership with public health organizations, including local health departments and associations, in New Jersey; 3) curriculum presented during the course; 4) number of professionals trained in New Jersey; and 5) future directions for this training effort.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe needs assessment strategies implemented that effectively identified training needs for local public health professionals.
• Identify methods to foster partnerships and collaboration between academic and local public health agencies.

Keywords: Training, Local Public Health Agencies

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.