Indonesia Field Epidemiology Training Program

Program overview

FETP Indonesia was established in 1982 as a two-year, full time, non-degree program conducted by the Directorate General of Communicable Disease Control and Environmental Health (DGCDC&EH) with technical support from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The goal of FETP Indonesia is to strengthen the national health workforce in regard to applied epidemiology and to further develop national capacity for detection and response to public health threats. DGCDC&EH began collaborating with Universitas Indonesia, Jakarta in 1990, and Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta in 1991 to change the FETP into a master’s degree program. The program was thus adopted by three more universities in 2016. All five universities implementing the FETP utilize a standard curriculum that requires at least 68 weeks of field work. The FETP that we currently facilitate is the Advanced-level FETP with a minimum training duration of 21 months, where at least 75 percent (68 weeks) of activities are in the field and the rest (25%) are academic.

Achievements

Currently, more than 700 FETP graduates work at all levels of government, public health institutions, academic institutions, NGOs, and others. During their residency, FETP students became an integral part of the district health office team to strengthen disease surveillance and response at the district level. FETP students have been involved in national outbreak investigations, such as those involving diarrheal diseases, food-borne illnesses, diphtheria, Hepatitis A, and COVID-19 (contact tracing, epidemiological investigations, and data analysis). In addition, FETP students have been involved in disaster responses, such as with the earthquake in Lombok Island, the earthquake and tsunami in Central Sulawesi Province, and the tsunami in Lebak District. In 2018, 10 FETP alumni became measles and rubella (MR) campaign phase II consultants in North Sumatra Province and Aceh Province. With the growing need for field epidemiologists in various countries, FETP Indonesia Secretariat has taken the initiative to develop curriculum and modules for Intermediate and Frontline FETP training. Indonesia has conducted a standard pilot project training for 15 district/city Health Surveillance Officers in East Java Province for seven months in 2019. It also completed training for 15 district/city Rapid Response Teams in South Sulawesi Province in 2018.Finally, the FETP has received a decree from the Director General of Disease Prevention and Control regarding the secretariat of the Field Epidemiology Strengthening and Application Coordination Team to strengthen the existence of a secretariat at the Ministry of Health.