Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health

Volume 5, Issue 1, March 2015, Pages 33 - 39

Establishing a field epidemiology elective for medical students in Kenya: A strategy for increasing public health awareness and workforce capacity

Authors
Wences Arveloa, *, dwi4@cdc.gov, Zeinab Gurab, Samuel Amwayib, Petra Wiersmac, Jared Omolob, Steven Becknella, Donna Jonesa, Dismas Ongored, Richard Dickera
aUS Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA
bKenya Ministry of Health, Nairobi, Kenya
cCTS Global, Inc., Assigned to: US Centers for Disease Control Prevention, East Africa, USA
dUniversity of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya
*Corresponding author at: Ministry of Health, Kenya Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program, Kenyatta National Hospital Campus, Nairobi, Kenya. Tel.: +254 70 348 5439.
Corresponding Author
Wences Arvelodwi4@cdc.gov
Received 19 November 2013, Revised 4 August 2014, Accepted 4 October 2014, Available Online 16 November 2014.
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2014.10.002How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Field epidemiology; Medical elective; Workforce development; Africa
Abstract

Medical students have limited exposure to field epidemiology, even though will assume public health roles after graduation. We established a 10-week elective in field epidemiology during medical school. Students attended one-week didactic sessions on epidemiology, and nine weeks in field placement sites. We administered pre- and post-tests to evaluate the training. We enrolled 34 students in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, we enrolled five of 24 applicants from a class of 280 medical students. In 2012, we enrolled 18 of 81 applicants from a class of 360 students; plus 11 who participated in the didactic sessions only. Among the 34 students who completed the didactic sessions, 74% were male, and their median age was 24 years (range: 22–26). The median pre-test score was 64% (range: 47–88%) and the median post-test score was 82% (range: 72–100%). Successful completion of the field projects was 100%. Six (30%) students were not aware of public health as a career option before this elective, 56% rated the field experience as outstanding, and 100% reported it increased their understanding of epidemiology. Implementing an elective in field epidemiology within the medical training is a highly acceptable strategy to increase awareness for public health among medical students.

Copyright
© 2014 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Journal
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue
5 - 1
Pages
33 - 39
Publication Date
2014/11/16
ISSN (Online)
2210-6014
ISSN (Print)
2210-6006
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2014.10.002How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2014 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Wences Arvelo
AU  - Zeinab Gura
AU  - Samuel Amwayi
AU  - Petra Wiersma
AU  - Jared Omolo
AU  - Steven Becknell
AU  - Donna Jones
AU  - Dismas Ongore
AU  - Richard Dicker
PY  - 2014
DA  - 2014/11/16
TI  - Establishing a field epidemiology elective for medical students in Kenya: A strategy for increasing public health awareness and workforce capacity
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 33
EP  - 39
VL  - 5
IS  - 1
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2014.10.002
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2014.10.002
ID  - Arvelo2014
ER  -