Surveillance is an essential tool in providing routine baseline information for disease distribution, studying the trends of diseases and early identification of outbreaks to initiate disease control mechanism. So, epidemiologist need to develop the understanding of the surveillance mechanism and abilities to analyze and interpret its data. This unit provides access to the real surveillance data and provide an opportunity to residents to study it for identified issues of their interest.
Objectives:
- To comprehend the existing health surveillance system in Saudi Arabia with its strengths and weaknesses
- To develop the skills to interpret the surveillance data
- To develop the skills to analyze the surveillance data to answer specific epidemiological queries
Activities:
- As part of this assignment, each resident will undertake assessment of the existing surveillance system in the Kingdom while focusing on one health issue limiting his investigation either by type of issue/disease, time and/or geographical boundaries.
- After undertaking the assessment, he will present his findings regarding operational and technical difficulties and suggest solutions to overcome these difficulties.
- The resident will present written findings for review and inclusions into recommendations for developing the surveillance system. Each resident will also prepare one or more surveillance reports from the actual surveillance data.
- This surveillance report will describe the epidemiology of the disease in the Kingdom.
- Submit a final report to FETP, both in Arabic and English, of 1000 – 1200 words each
- Present the final report in Round Table meeting
Supervision and follow-up:
- The designated coordinator in Surveillance department or and a consultant/specialist at FETP will mutually supervise the resident.
Time schedule and submission of reports:
- The total duration of the attachment will be 2 - 4 weeks. And will be credited as 7 credit hours to the training program.
- The resident will complete the activity during the summer semester of first year and 1st semester of 2nd years. The exact program will be finalized by the unit supervisor, while adjusting with the time schedule for other projects/training activities of all the residents.
Assessment:
The evaluation of the activity will be based on:
- The evaluation report of the coordinator of surveillance department or Health administrator to whom the resident is attached, on the specified form.
- The evaluation by the consultant/specialist supervising the resident at FETP on the basis of report submitted and presentation