Between the months of July until October 2017, the Jordan Ministry of Health (MoH) implemented the Public Health Empowerment Program-Basic Field Epidemiology (PHEP-BFE), a program targeting primary health care (PHC) physicians from across Jordan. Supported by GHD| EMPHNET, this three-month, in-service training program aims to build the capacity of the MoH primary health care workforce at the provincial and district levels. It focuses on fundamentals of surveillance, outbreak investigation, and emergency response. The PHEP-BFE was designed to contribute to filling the gaps resulting from shortage in the availability of qualified professionals in certain areas of the country.

The first cohort comprised 26 members: 20 primary health care physicians representing governorates throughout the country: Ajloun, Amman, Al-Karak, Balqa, Irbid, Jerash, Madaba, Mafraq, Ma’an, Ramtha, Tafilah, and Zarqa; a veterinarian from the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA); an MoH occupational health physician; and four primary health care physicians from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

The PHEP-BFE curriculum consisted of three training workshops conducted at the MoH headquarters in Amman. These workshops were facilitated by trainers from the MoH and GHD| EMPHNET. Following the first and second training workshops, residents engaged in two field work periods, for five weeks after the first training workshop and for three weeks after the second training. The field work of each resident was supervised by a respective mentor.

The first workshop of the program, Basic Epidemiology and Surveillance, was conducted from July 9 to July 20, 2017. Its sessions focused on basic epidemiology, basic statistics, and public health surveillance. Two case studies were also discussed, one on Brucellosis and another on the Avian Flu. At the end of this workshop, participants were also officially introduced to their respective mentors who will supervise their field tasks.

As part of their first field project, the residents analyzed their unit’s recent surveillance data, summarized their analysis in a report, and then conducted data quality audit and feedback visits to selected reporting sites.

The second workshop, Outbreak Investigation and Public Health Emergency, was conducted from August 26 to 30, 2017. It started off with the residents presenting their first field projects. After being introduced to risk communication during emergencies, epidemiology during outbreaks, Rapid Response Teams (RRTs), residents then engaged in the second field work period.

Residents’ field projects varied from writing case investigation reports to writing an outbreak investigation report, summarizing additional surveillance data, conducting an analysis of surveillance quality problem.

Leadership and Management was the title of the third workshop that took place from October 3 to 5, 2017. The training workshop primarily covered topics aimed at enhancing residents’ skills in health problem framing and analysis. During this workshop, participants presented their fieldwork projects and were evaluated on these projects.

The third workshop also included the First Cohort’s graduation ceremony. The Director of the MoH Primary Healthcare Directorate Dr. Ayoub Sayaydeh and the Executive Director of GHD| EMPHNET Dr. Mohannad Al-Nsour presided the ceremony.

Dr. Sayaydeh said: “The PHEP-BFE is an important addition to the work of the MoH, and we expect it to contribute to the Ministry’s epidemiologic capacity.” He added, “I would like to thank GHD| EMPHNET for supporting the program and congratulate the first cohort’s members on successfully completing the program.”

From his end, Dr. Al-Nsour said, “Today marks another important step in the continuous collaboration between GHD| EMPHNET and the Jordan Ministry of Health. We see the PHEP-BFE as an enrichment to the skills of the members who can now apply what they have learned to improve their line of work.”

The floor was then given to the graduates, who inquired about the next steps following the completion of this program. The discussion focused on the contributions they could make to their respective units.