Zimbabwe Field Epidemiology Training Program
Affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, University of Zimbabwe
The Zimbabwe Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) was established in 1993 as one of the Public Health Schools Without Walls (PHSWOW) an initiative of the Rockefeller Foundation.
The Zimbabwe FETP offers a Masters of Public Health (MPH) degree that consists of 30% classroom-based learning and 70% field training. The degree is awarded by the University of Zimbabwe. The MPH program is a joint collaboration with the Department of Community Medicine and the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare (MoHCW). It is currently the only public health training program at masters’ level in Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe was the first country in Africa to develop a Master of Public Health program. Drawing upon its experience, subsequent programs were launched in Uganda, Ghana, and Vietnam.
The program has admitted 24 successive cohorts. The program has successfully graduated 221 residents since 1993. The MPH program of the Zimbabwe FETP has trained over 90% of the current public health leadership in the country. The program is favorably regarded both locally and internationally as producing high quality graduates.
The majority of the alumni occupy influential positions within the public and private sectors. The program has become a model for the demonstration of a successful integration and collaboration between major partners in public health training like Ministry of Health, Universities, AFENET, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other partners.
The Program also has an Alumni Association which was established in September 2008 to promote, foster and maintain links between the Association's members and the University of Zimbabwe.
Goal:
To produce public health practitioners who possess the knowledge, skills and professional attitudes required to assume leadership roles within the public health system in Zimbabwe.
Mission:
To assist the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to create capacity to recruit, train, and employ public health practitioners to sustain the public health infrastructure and improve delivery of services at national, provincial, district, and municipal health authority levels.