ArticleBMC health services research2022
Improving the effectiveness of Field Epidemiology Training Programs: characteristics that facilitated effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Uganda.
Article in BMC health services research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Influence of government policies on handwashing and vaccine uptake in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to prevent and control COVID-19: a systematic review.Frontiers in public health · 2024Pooled it
- Public health emergency response through field epidemiology training and rapid response teams - a scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Gap in knowledge and improvement after an infectious disease training program for Ugandan healthcare workers.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Scoping review of public health emergency management training programmes and curricula in Africa (2000-2025): implications for policy, practice and research.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Capacity Building in Field Epidemiology in Sub Saharan Africa: Findings from Infectious Disease Field Epidemiology and Biostatistics in Africa (IDEA) Fellowship Program.Advances in medical education and practice · 2025Article
- The crucial role the field epidemiology training program played in preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Sierra Leone, January 2020 to August 2022.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Cross-sectional study on the epidemiological investigation ability of professional staff from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Guizhou Province.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- The Field Epidemiology Training Program's Contribution to Essential Public Health Functions in Seven National Public Health Institutes.International journal of public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe global need for well-trained field epidemiologists has been underscored in the last decade in multiple pandemics, the most recent being COVID-19. Field Epidemiology Training Programs (FETPs) are in-service training programs that improve country capacities to respond to public health emergencies across different levels of the health system. Best practices for FETP implementation have been described previously. The Uganda Public Health Fellowship Program (PHFP), or Advanced-FETP in Uganda, is a two-year fellowship in field epidemiology funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and situated in the Uganda National Institute of Public Health (UNIPH). We describe how specific attributes of the Uganda PHFP that are aligned with best practices enabled substantial contributions to the COVID-19 response in Uganda.
methodsWe describe the PHFP in Uganda and review examples of how specific program characteristics facilitate integration with Ministry of Health needs and foster a strong response, using COVID-19 pandemic response activities as examples. We describe PHFP activities and outputs before and during the COVID-19 response and offer expert opinions about the impact of the program set-up on these outputs.
resultsUnlike nearly all other Advanced FETPs in Africa, PHFP is delinked from an academic degree-granting program and enrolls only post-Master's-degree fellows. This enables full-time, uninterrupted commitment of academically-trained fellows to public health response. Uganda's PHFP has strong partner support in country, sufficient technical support from program staff, Ministry of Health (MoH), CDC, and partners, and full-time dedicated directorship from a well-respected MoH staff member. The PHFP is physically co-located inside the UNIPH with the emergency operations center (EOC), which provides a direct path for health alerts to be investigated by fellows. It has recognized value within the MoH, which integrates graduates into key MoH and partner positions. During February 2020-September 2021, PHFP fellows and graduates completed 67 major COVID-related projects. PHFP activities during the COVID-19 response were specifically requested by the MoH or by partners, or generated de novo by the program, and were supervised by all partners.
conclusionSpecific attributes of the PHFP enable effective service to the Ministry of Health in Uganda. Among the most important is the enrollment of post-graduate fellows, which leads to a high level of utilization of the program fellows by the Ministry of Health to fulfill real-time needs. Strong leadership and sufficient technical support permitted meaningful program outputs during COVID-19 pandemic response. Ensuring the inclusion of similar characteristics when implementing FETPs elsewhere may allow them to achieve a high level of impact.
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