Appendix 3: Curriculum

Appendix 3: Curriculum

Week 1, Monday

• Slide set and Pre-Test (anonymous)

• Short presentation
• Questionnaire distributed to participants for filling in 20 minutes (Appendix 4)

• One person to oversee the process
• One epidemiologist need to review the test and assign 1, ½ or 0 for each answer (mark /20)

• PowerPoint Presentation
• Standardized 20-item test (Appendix 4)

• LCD projector
• Need to Xerox the test (1 copy for each participant)

• Participants must be reassured that they are not tested as individuals but to document the acquisitions in the group

• Participative session

• Identify the key components of a surveillance system

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiology, pages 5-1 to 5-4

• Principles of surveillance textbook by Teutsch and Churchill

• Person experienced with the use of surveillance data for decision making and with the management of a surveillance system

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• The session will introduce the activities of the course, including (1) the didactic sessions, (2) the field exercises and (3) the field assignment.

• Participative session

• Identify the different types of data
• Calculate measures of central tendency

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 2-1 to 2-15

• N/A

• Biostatistician or epidemiologist

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• Practical in the afternoon

• Participative session

• Define incidence, prevalence, mortality and case fatality
• Identify the indicator to calculate (incidence or prevalence) according to the context

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiology pp1-31 to 1-45

• N/A

• Epidemiologist

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• N/A

• Computer practical

• Describe the frequency distribution of various type of data

• Computer practical

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 2-1 to 2-15

• N/A

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector for facilitator
• Computers (at least one for three participants)

• Application of the session of the same day

Week 1, Tuesday

• Informal review of acquisitions

• Those of the previous day

• Facilitator goes around the group and ask one question to each participant

• One epidemiologist

• See Appendix 5

• The session is not meant to put the participants on the spot but to get them to re-iterate the acquisitions of the previous day

• Participative session

• Make a surveillance system operational in a district

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 1 of IDSP operations manual
• Module 2 and module 4 of training manual
• Annexure 4 and 5 IDSP guidelines

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5-1 to 5-4

• Epidemiologist familiar with surveillance and IDSP procedures

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• Understand how to apply the concepts of setting up a surveillance system to practical IDSP implementation
• Adapt the IDSP programme implementation plan to the realities of a district
• Involve medical colleges and the private sector

• Participative session

• Organize surveillance data collection in a district

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 2 and 3 of IDSP operations manual
• Module 5 of training manual
• Format and guidelines for reporting of information on disease surveillance (electronic manual)
• IDSP manual

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5-11 to 5-20

• Epidemiologist familiar with surveillance and IDSP procedures

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• It may be useful to demonstrate some IDSP form in front of participants

• Participative session

• Transmit, compile and forward surveillance data

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 2 and 3 of IDSP operations manual
• Module 5 of training manual
• Format and guidelines for reporting of information on disease surveillance (electronic manual)
• IDSP manual

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5-11 to 5-20

• Epidemiologist familiar with surveillance and IDSP procedures

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• The idea here is to get people to understand they should analyze data before they pass them on

• Participative session

• Prepare tables, graphs and maps

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 4-1-4-88

• N/A

• Epidemiologist familiar and comfortable with data presentation

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• These skills will be used later during the course.

Week 1, Wednesday

• Informal review of acquisitions

• Those of the previous day

• Facilitator goes around the group and ask one question to each participant

• One epidemiologist

• See Appendix 5

• The session is not meant to put the participants on the spot but to get them to re-iterate the acquisitions of the previous day

• Participative session

• Transform surveillance data into information by time, place and person

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 4 of IDSP operations manual
• Module 9 of training manual

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5.21-5.31

• Epidemiologist familiar with surveillance data analysis

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• This the key lecture for the course: It describes what the participants will have to do (1) for the afternoon exercise, (2) for the field exercise and (3) for their field assignment when back in their district.

• Exercise

• Analyze surveillance data by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• Exercise by group of 3 or 4 persons

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5.21-5.31

• 2 or 3 epidemiologists

• Guide of the participant to be Xeroxed part by part for all participants and distributed

• Calculators
• Graph paper
• Rulers
• Markers

• The exercise must be Xeroxed part by part (as the following part always contains the answers to the previous questions)

• Case study

• Transform real surveillance data (line listings) into information by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• Exercise by group of 3 or 4 persons

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5.21-5.31

• 2 or 3 epidemiologists

• Guide of the participant (first part) to be Xeroxed for all participants
• Additional Xeroxed tools to distribute (blank map and census data)
• Facilitator’s guide to be Xeroxed for facilitators

• Calculators
• Graph paper
• Rulers
• Markers

• During the first part of the case study (2 sessions), participants analyze data by hand.

Week 1, Thursday

• Informal review of acquisitions

• Those of the previous day

• Facilitator goes around the group and ask one question to each participant

• One epidemiologist

• See Appendix 5

• The session is not meant to put the participants on the spot but to get them to re-iterate the acquisitions of the previous day

• Participative session

• Detect signals and filter them to generate alerts

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 4 of IDSP operations manual
• Module 8 of training manual

• N/A

• Epidemiologist familiar with early warning signals

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• One can only know what is unusual if one knows the usual.

• Case study

• Transform real surveillance data (line listings) into information by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• Computer practical by group of 3 or 4 persons

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiologypp 5.21-5.31

• 2 or 3 epidemiologists (identical to those from the first part of the case study)

• Guide of the participant (second part) to be Xeroxed for all participants
• Facilitator’s guide to be Xeroxed for facilitators

• Computers (one for 3-4 participants)

• During the second part of this case study, participants produce maps, tables and graphs with a computer.

• Group work

• Plan field work

• Exercise by group of 3 or 4 persons

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• 2 or 3 epidemiologists

• Slide set

• LCD projector

• The facilitator presents the objective of the fieldwork: Go to the district surveillance office, collect some raw data for a given disease and analyze the data by time, place and person.
• The objective of the group session is to prepare a plan for how to go about this task to be performed on Friday and Saturday.
• Facilitators may want to interact with the district surveillance office first (1) to select diseases for which surveillance data could be analyzed and (2) to make sure data will be available.

Week 1, Friday

• Field exercise to analyze real surveillance data from a district surveillance office

• Transform real surveillance data into information by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• A district surveillance unit is identified and approached beforehand
• Diseases are selected for which data are available
• District surveillance officer prepares the data to make them available

• Participants travel to the district surveillance unit
• A meeting is held with the disease surveillance team to describe the activities of the unit
• Each participants group (3 to 4 individuals) chose one diseases, gather the surveillance data (Xeroxing paper documents, copying electronic files). Engage the district focal points of these diseases (e.g., District Tuberculosis Officer). [1]

• Gather all numerator data needed for the analysis
• Gather population denominators (census data)
• Gather background map for the area (to be digitalized)

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• The case study on Chikungunya in Kadapa can be used as a template for the approach to follow

• 2 or 3 epidemiologists

• None

• Access to a Xerox machine may need to be organized

• Transport must be organized.

Week 1, Saturday

• Field exercise to analyze real surveillance data from a district surveillance office

• Transform real surveillance data (line listings) into information by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• Participants have returned to the institute with the surveillance data from the district
• They analyze the data by groups, either with one single disease for each group or with one disease by group. You can bring back the focal points in the institute and engage them in the analysis.
• Participants can analyze data by hand or by computer, depending upon their level of comfort

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• The case study on Chikungunya in Kadapa can be used as a template for the approach to follow

• 1 epidemiologist

• None

• Access to computers should be possible
• Graph papers
• Markers

• One page text summary
• One table of incidence by age and sex
• One map of incidence by geographical area
• One graph of incidence over time

Week 2, Monday

• Group work with facilitator

• Transform real surveillance data (line listings) into information by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• Groups report back regarding the problems and issues regarding the production of their report

• One epidemiologist

• The groups may want to Xerox their reports to share them with others

• The facilitators registers and make note of the problems encountered during the field work
• Guidance is provided for issues raised
• This rapid debriefing prepares the session of the next day where the reports will be reviewed in more detail
• Use the evaluation checklist to review the reports (Appendix 7)

• Participative session

• Investigate an outbreak

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 5 of operations manual
• Module 8 of training manual

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiology pp 6.1-6.76

• Epidemiologist familiar with outbreak investigations using analytical epidemiological methods

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• None

• Participative session

• Work well with the laboratory when investigating an outbreak

• Session run by facilitator with LCD projection

• Section 6 of operations manual
• Module 6 of training manual

• WHO Guidelines for the collection of clinical specimens during field investigation of outbreaks
• IDSP and WHO bio safety manual
• WHO CD ROM on laboratory issues for epidemiologists

• Laboratory specialists used to working with epidemiologists during outbreak investigations

• PowerPoint presentation

• LCD projector

• None

• Case study

• Recognize an outbreak (Part I)
• Prepare a first information report (Part I)
• Organize laboratory confirmation during an outbreak (Part II)

• Case study

• Lecture on outbreak investigation and on working with the laboratory (handout)
• Annexure 1 of the IDSP training manual (Template first information report)

• CDC text book on principles of epidemiology pp 6.1-6.76

• 1 epidemiologist and 1 laboratory specialist

• PartI and Part II of the case study Xeroxed part by part and section by section (as the following section always contains the answers to the previous questions)

• Calculators
• Computers (If participants wish to write the first information report on a computer)

• Since the case study runs for eight sessions throughout the week, one of the facilitators should be present for all the parts to follow the progression of the understanding by the participants

Week 2, Tuesday

• Informal review of acquisitions

• Those of the previous day

• Facilitator goes around the group and ask one question to each participant

• One epidemiologist

• See Appendix 5

• The session is not meant to put the participants on the spot but to get them to re-iterate the acquisitions of the previous day

• Practical

• Transform real surveillance data (line listings) into information by time (graph), place (map) and person (table)

• Practical

• Lecture on analysis of surveillance data (hand out)
• Lecture on tables, graphs and maps (hand out)

• The case study on Chikungunya in Kadapa can be used as a template for the approach to follow

• 1 epidemiologist

• None

• Calculators

• The facilitator reviews the results of the analysis of the surveillance data collected during the field exercise and provides feedback and comments.
• Participants should have produced:
• A map with population based incidence by area;
• A table of population based incidence by age and sex;
• A graph showing incidence over time;
• A one-page report with introduction, methods, results, conclusions and recommendations.
• Invite the staff of the district and use it as a case study of feedback!