Solomon Islands Field Epidemiology Training Program (Sols FETP)
The Solomon Islands Field Epidemiology Training Program (Sols FETP) has successfully completed its first cohort and is currently training the second cohort of trainee field epidemiologists from a range of health facilities across the country. A workforce development program, Sols FETP is embedded within the Solomon Islands’ Government’s Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS). The program’s aim is to have competent field epidemiologists available and dispersed across the Solomon Islands.
Sols FETP is a UNITAR-CIFAL certified program.
What is Sols FETP?
Sols FETP is a National Government initiative to develop a responsive public health workforce and strengthen public health surveillance systems across all levels of government, including the national and provincial levels. This will lead to decision makers at facility, provincial and national levels having high quality evidence on which to base their actions to control and prevent diseases and poor health outcomes.
Sols FETP is a competency-based program based on the Field Epidemiology Training Program in Papua New Guinea (FETPNG), but highly contextualised for Solomon Islands. Fellows are trained in data collection, analysis and interpretation, disease surveillance and outbreak response. Fellows also conduct two projects during their candidature: the first to measure and understand an identified public health problem in their workplace, and the second to design, implement and evaluate an intervention to address the identified public health issue. In the first two cohorts, fellows have conducted a wide range of projects related to surveillance system strengthening, non-communicable disease screening and assessment, malaria testing and infection prevention and control.
The Program consists of five training phases over approximately 8 months, as shown in the infographic below. Each cohort typically consists of 8-10 health workers (Fellows) supported by a team of local and international trainers and mentors (Faculty). During each workshop, Fellows present their field project and intervention project plans and results to other Fellows and Faculty for discussion and critique. Graduates of the program are encouraged and supported to present their findings to workplace managers and at national and international conferences. They are also encouraged to publish their findings.
Why is Sols FETP needed?
The COVID-19 emergency has highlighted the imperative of developing workforce capacity to respond to health emergencies in Solomon Islands and, indeed, around the world. The first cohort of Sols FETP Fellows provided valuable contributions to the COVID-19 response in their respective facilities and communities across the country.
If you would like to learn more about the Program’s vision for impact in Solomon Islands, please read the Sols FETP Theory of Change report, accessible for download by clicking the button below:
History of Sols FETP
In 2018, two fellows from Solomon Islands successfully graduated from the FETPNG program. While travelling to PNG for the intensive training workshops, the two fellows completed their field projects and public health interventions in the Solomon Islands. Alongside extensive consultation between the MHMS, FETPNG Coordination team and FEiA team, the experiences and skills gained by the fellows led to the establishment of the Sols FETP in 2021.
