The contribution of field epidemiologists to the public health sector in Mongolia / Монголын Анагаах Ухаан

ABSTRACT

Introduction@#Field epidemiology training (FET) was first established in 1951, named as Epidemics Intelligence Service, next to the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention of USA. At present, FET is conducted in over 50 countries in the world and the training is based on the main principle of promoting utilization of theories of epidemiology in public health practice and evidence-based decision making. Main goal of FET is to strengthen capacity and infrastructure of the public health system and to improve people’s health as a result of forming a core team of professionals, which will deliver public health services in a particular country, survey any country-specific public health issues, and provide evidence.</br> MFETPs have been implemented in Mongolia since 2009 with support from Ministry of Health (MOH) and World Health Organization (WHO). To ensure structural and organizational sustainability of the training, the programme has been integrated into the National Centre for Communicable Disease (NCCD) under the auspices of MOH and the trainings have been conducted nationwide. MFETPs last for one year, which includes 1-2 months of classroom training and 3-11 months of field internship by trainees. The training graduates should be skilled to use the science of epidemiology in studying public health issues and to deliver evidence-based conclusions and recommendations.@*Goal@#To evaluate of MFETP graduates’ knowledge, skills and their contribution to the public health system@*Method@#We conducted a cross-sectional online survey link between October 2019 and March 2020 through Mongolian field epidemiology alumni networks. Survey questions included demographic details of participants, along with their technical background, level of formal education, topics studied during epidemiology training, and years of experience as an epidemiologist. We specifically targeted FETP alumni, however the survey was open to all people who had studied MFETP.@*Results@#In total, 55 field epidemiologists (77% of all graduates) responded to the survey. Participants had a range of formal public health and epidemiology training backgrounds. Of the total graduates, 19 (30%) are currently working at NCCD, of whom 3 are head of department. A total of 7 (11%) graduates work in rural health centers and health centers, while 6 (10%) graduates work in the tertiary level. In addition, there are 2 graduates working in the Ministry of Health. 80.6% (25/31) were involved in outbreak-response activities and 93.9% (31/33) conducted operational research, 91.4% (32/35) said that the surveillance analysis was conducted and 81.5% (22/27) performed fundamental researches at least one times. One graduate had an average 3.7 study and analysis during the course of the study, and increased to 7.7±12.4 after graduation. Particularly, the operational study (4.1 ± 8.7) and the outbreak study (3.1 ± 4.5) have increased.@*Conclusion@#Our study has demonstrated that applied epidemiology workforce training must evolve to remain relevant to current and future public health challenges.