China Field Epidemiology Training Program

China FETP strengthens its national networking and expands its training program in 2023. Our main achievements are as follows:    

• 18th China FETP academic annual conference was held and experiences were shared among FETPs. China FETP held its 18th academic annual conference in August 2023, which lasted two days and gathered more than 800 mentors, trainees and administrative staff from provincial FETP participating in person and tens of thousands of clicks during the live broadcasting. A total of 454 abstracts were received during the call for abstracts among which 33 were accepted as oral presentations and 68 as poster presentations. Outbreak investigations covering diseases such as TB and influenza and planned studies on topics such as risk factors and transmission dynamics were shared in the conference.      
• National networking was strengthened through personnel deployment and ToT. Eligible mentors from China FETP and other FETPs were dispatched to 26 provinces of China in more than 80 person-time to provide technical support and give guidance to the implementation of local FETP training. Meanwhile, workshops of FETP training and training of trainers were also conducted, which greatly promoted the construction of the national FETP network.      
• New program of “Surveillance and Early Warning” was launched  Immense attention was paid to “Surveillance and Early Warning” in the post COVID-19 era in China, and China FETP was also responsible for the training program of “Surveillance and Early Warning” which lasts 9 months entrusted by the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration. The first cohort trainees will be enrolled in 2004.    
• Field Epidemiology was advocated in China and CFETP was in charge of national competition.
• Field epidemiological skills were more and more acknowledged in China during COVID-19 response. Taking the advantage of its professional expertise, China FETP took the lead in the framework setting and question design in the National Field Epidemiological Skills Competition.    
• China FETP shared experiences with its counterparts actively. China FETP took an active part in international cooperation and share our experiences with our counterparts. 4 residents made oral presentations in the 1st SAFETYNET Scientific Conference in person, 3 shared their investigation via pre-recorded video clips while 1 showed her investigation in the form of poster. China FETP also actively participated in the activities organized by ASEAN+3 FETN.

During field training, trainees conduct public health surveillance, emergency epidemiological investigations, and applied epidemiological studies while receiving mentoring from a supervisor and field mentors. CFETP also played a significant role in public health emergency response during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, H1N1 in 2009, H7N9 in 2013, and Ebola in 2014. As of 2018, 24 CFETP graduates were sent to African counties including Sierra Leone, Angola, Madagascar, and Zambia for important public health aid commissions. Graduates are currently working in key technical or managerial positions in public health agencies, including six in director or deputy director roles within the China CDC. CFETP has also served as the model for 24 provinces to launch their own FETPs. From 2013 to 2017, CFETP had hosted six Foreign Aid Training Courses for 86 trainees from 20 Asian countries.