Strengthening the sustainability of MediPIET
For the past year, the MediPIET Training Centre Forum has been engaged in a wide range of activities aimed at further strengthening the programme. These efforts include a revision of the fellowship curriculum, strengthening the collaboration between MediPIET and national Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programmes (FETPs) and establishing a MediPIET Alumni Network.
Throughout 2022, members of the MediPIET Training Centres Forum (TCF) have discussed how to further develop, promote, and ensure the sustainability of the MediPIET training programme.
The MediPIET core competencies and curriculum are currently being reviewed with the aim to modernise the programmes` content and format in order to better reflect the current needs in the partner countries and to ensure greater flexibility and consistency among the national FETPs in the MediPIET partner countries. An updated curriculum will serve to guide partner countries as they further develop and expand their national FETPs.
Since taking over the programme implementation, ECDC, the Training Centre Forum and the alumni fellows have continued their joint efforts to establish the MediPIET Alumni Network. The network will function as a resource for the MediPIET training programme, and includes ECDC-organised MediPIET training activities and tasks related to the supervision and mentoring of fellows.
The Alumni members are expected to play an active role as “ambassadors” of the MediPIET programme in their home countries and contribute to the identification of international assignments for current MediPIET fellows. Furthermore, involving alumni in mentoring fellows currently under training, or as faculty in modules, will facilitate knowledge transfer and scientific quality of outputs, while strengthening the network.
During the annual European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology (ESCAIDE), MediPIET hosted a session to highlight the role of national field epidemiology training programmes in strengthening countries’ prevention and response capacities to infectious diseases.
The session featured speakers from both EU and non-EU countries who shared their experiences in setting up and running national FETPs and reflected on the relationship between these programmes and regional programmes, such as MediPIET.
MediPIET currently has 16+16 fellows in training (cohorts 4 and 5), and in 2022 a new MediPIET Training Site was appraised in Libya.
On 15 November, MediPIET officially joined the global TEPHINET network of field epidemiology and laboratory training programmes. TEPHINET membership will further enhance MediPIET`s international network and allow the programme to share valuable experiences with other FETPs and alumni associations around the world.
