Due to the necessity of the Ministry of Health to support the preventive medicine divisions, either within the Ministry's Agency for Public Health departments or in health regions, with highly qualified and well-trained Saudi professionals in the field of epidemics detection and control who can lead in the development of preventive programs for communicable and non-communicable diseases. The idea of launching a program for post-graduate studies on epidemiology came into being in 1409 (1989). Thus, the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and King Saud University in Riyadh initiated the Field Epidemiology Training Program, now affiliated to the Ministry's Agency for Public Health. So far, the program has graduated 28 batches of the field epidemiology diploma. The total number of graduates reached 135, of which there are eight graduates from the Omani Ministry of Health. The remaining are Saudi’s working in the different health regions of the country.
To be in the lead of the field of locally, regionally, and international studying and controlling epidemics' to play an effective role impacting the public health and safety in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; and to remarkably contribute to the science and practices of the applied epidemiology.
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Graduating specialists in the field epidemiology possessing scientific and practical efficiency on epidemiology, high ethical standards, and the leadership traits enabling them to tend to their community, and the constructive critical thinking; in order to enhance research and improvement on the public health field.
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Training the public health workers with the aim of meeting the country's needs in terms of the cadres specialized in the epidemiological fields, such as epidemiological surveillance ,injury prevention, the infectious and non-infectious diseases, epidemic spreading and the healthcare-related infection; and other national and international important public health problems.
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Conducting studies on health-related issues and publishing their findings, and submitting them to the concerned bodies to benefit from them.
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Collaborating and communicating with the local and international bodies and institutions; with the aim of boosting up knowledge and exchanging expertise.
Advancing the level of the health services on the field of epidemic studying and controlling which the Ministry of Health (MOH) provides in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's different regions, delivering national, qualified cadres of field epidemiology diplomas holders ; to fill in the needs of the MOH prevention sector in all regions and to have them replace the foreign cadres.
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Training the health cadres, and qualifying them to obtain the diploma certificate in epidemiology; with the aim of securing national, qualified cadres that advances the health services, encouraging the participation of trainers from the Gulf States, and providing the best ways for training.
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Upgrading the efficiency of the health workers belonging to the epidemiology control field; through in-service training and rehabilitation programs, and training them on the latest in the field of the health and prevention services, and designing and implementing training programs that address the top-prioritized health problems and meet the needs of the health workers.
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Encouraging studies that are meant for tackling the priority health problems in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; with the aim of identifying their dimensions and ways of properly addressing them.
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Promoting and setting the fundamentals of cooperation between expertise within and outside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and drawing on the remarkable expertise in the training field for the Program's trainers, and documenting cooperation between the program and the regional and international scientific bodies in the epidemiology field and public health.
Academic Affairs Department:
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Supervising the post-graduate studies division which includes the Saudi fellowship unit in preventive medicine, public health Master's degree unit, and epidemiological diploma unit.
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Taking charge of the students' affairs division.
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Setting the tasks assigned for each division and the job description for its staff.
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Taking charge of any tasks devolved to it by the supervisor-general of the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
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Supervising the short term development and training division.
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Supervising the studies and epidemiological survey division.
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Overseeing the epidemiological surveillance division.
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Taking charge of the information technology division.
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Supervising the data and statistics treatment division.
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Setting the tasks assigned for each division and the job description for its staff.
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Taking charge of any tasks devolved to it by the supervisor-general of the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
Studies and Development Affairs Department
Communication and Cooperation Department
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Managing the website of the program.
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Communication and public relations within and outside the Program.
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Following up and saving the agreements struck with the Program on the cooperation fields.
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Media and printed materials.
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Conferences and forums.
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Setting the tasks assigned for each division and the job description for its staff.
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Taking charge of any tasks devolved to it by the supervisor-general of the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
Administrative and Financial Affairs
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Supervising the personnel division.
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Overseeing the financial affairs division.
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Setting the tasks assigned for each division and the job description for its staff.
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Taking charge of any tasks devolved to it by the supervisor-general of the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
Library& Publications:
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Overseeing the library and students' service divisions.
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Scientific publications.
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Saudi Epidemiology Bulletin.
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Periodic Reports.
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Editorial division.
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Setting the tasks assigned for each division and the job description for its staff.
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Taking charge of any tasks devolved to it by the supervisor-general of the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
Library & Publications:
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Overseeing the library and students' service divisions.
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Scientific publications.
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Saudi Epidemiology Bulletin.
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Periodic Reports.
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Editorial division.
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Setting the tasks assigned for each division and the job description for its staff.
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Taking charge of any tasks devolved to it by the supervisor-general of the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
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Training the health cadres working in the epidemiological survey field and the epidemiological surveillance for the infectious and non-infectious diseases, and other pressing national and international health problems.
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Participating in training those joining the field epidemiological diploma and the public health Master's degree, epidemiology department, at King Saud University and the Saudi fellowship physicians of community medicine, in collaboration with the college of medicine of King Saud University and the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.
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Studying the epidemiological outbreaks through conducting epidemiological surveys and other health problems that see a remarkable increase, and submitting a report on demonstrating their causes and the proper procedure for fighting them and not staging comeback.
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Doing epidemiological studies for the pressing health problems at the level of the Saudi Arabia and regions; to reach practical programs curbing them in cooperation with the concerned bodies within and outside the Ministry of Health (MOH).
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Annually participating with epidemiological team as part of the prevention medicine teams in the Hajj season; with the aim of training and conducting the field studies, and taking part in the epidemiological survey and surveillance for the health problems that could take place during the Hajj season.
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Releasing an annual quarterly scientific bulletin entitling the Saudi epidemiological bulletin, aiming at publishing results of the field studies conducted by the Program; in order to benefit from them in improving on the epidemiological programs and developing activities of the disease monitoring and controlling them.
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Preparing and setting standards; and assessing and improving on the epidemiological monitoring and surveillance related to the early detection for the communicable and non- communicable diseases, which is instrumental in identifying the changes with regard to the clinical and environmental patterns of the diseases.
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Collaborating with the different sectors of the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the health regions; to draw on the human and technical capabilities they have; with the aim of doing the epidemiological studies and the work of the epidemiological diseases control.
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Providing consultation and technical expertise on the prevention fields and the health studies.
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Preparing and developing reference information register on the epidemiology and the health problems on the Saudi Arabia.
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Creating a network of centers for the epidemiological diseases control, and coordinating with them with the aim of conducting the epidemiological surveillance work; in order to control and treat them.
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Forming and enhancing the rapid response epidemiological intervention teams for the epidemiological diseases that pose imminent risk to community; with the aim of control them and drawing up methods for eliminate them.
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Coordinating internationally in the field of initiative implementing in terms of the field of disease preventing and their controlling, as well as benefitting from the best practices of the other states on the epidemiology field.
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Collaborating with the global specialized organizations and institutions; in order to reach a professional level positively helping boost up the public health.
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Preparing the annual budget project for the Program.
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Making periodical reports on the activities of the Program, its achievements, and work development suggestions; and submitting them to the Deputy Minister for Public Health.
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Any other tasks devolved to the Program within its purview.
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Collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S.A. and working on providing a permanent CDC expert in the Field Epidemiology Training Program.
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Continue collaborating with King Saud University in terms of awarding the diploma certificate in the field epidemiology and admitting new batches in the diploma.
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The twenty-eight batch of the field epidemiology diploma, numbering eight physicians by the end of 1438h End the training period ; Note that the total number of the Program's graduates is 135graduate.
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Admission of fourteen residents (batch 30) to the field epidemiology diploma from several regions in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the academic year of 1438/1439.
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Taking part in training the physicians joining the Saudi fellowship on community medicine, as the Field Epidemiology Training Program is an accredited training center from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties of Fellowship.
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Conducting 10 short training courses on different topics related to epidemiology, scientific research methods, statistical and geographical analysis, and epidemiological surveillance field, in which 279 trainees participated at the level of the health regions and governorates in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from all specialties and health groups, 1438h.
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Conducted 17 epidemiological studies across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia by the residents of the Program, 1437/1438h.
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Participating with an epidemiological team as part of the preventive medicine team in the Hajj season; with the aim of training and conducting the field studies, and playing a role in the epidemiological surveillance and survey of the health problems during the Hajj season.
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Providing consultation and technical expertise on the prevention fields and the health studies.
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Having some studies conducted by the Program, participate in a number of international, regional, and local conferences concerned with the scientific studies for the outstanding health problems.
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Taking part in training of the Saudi fellowship physicians on family medicine in Jeddah.
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Continue releasing the Saudi epidemiology bulletin; a quarterly scientific bulletin aim at establishing communication channel between the MOH Public Health Agency and those working for the prevention sections in regions and publishing a summary of the field study findings conducted by the Program. Further, releasing the eighteenth volume has finished and the nineteenth volume is about to be issued. Also, improving on the bulletin is planned with the aim of transforming it into purely scientific journal in the future.
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Issued number of updated brochures, leaflets and epidemiological bulletins..
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Providing the scientific consultation for the researches done by some of the MOH departments.
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Taking part in developing a number of the prevention programs..
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Making periodical reports on the activities of the Program, its achievements, and work development suggestions; and submitting them to the Deputy Minister for Public Health.
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Participating in a number of the national researches conducted by the Public Health Agency..
