IPNews-Monrovia, Liberia, 6 May 2018: Eighteen (18) public health interns from the Adventist University of West Africa in Paynesville and Tubman University in Harper, Maryland County have successfully completed three months of practical field work at the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL) in Monrovia.

The 18 interns (6 from Adventist University of West Africa, 12 from Tubman University) were placed into various technical divisions of NPHIL with mentors assigned to provide them the technical skills required.

As part of their assessments, the students were actively engaged into supportive supervision activities in urban and rural communities. At the end of their internship, the students made presentations of supervision findings at the National Epidemic Preparedness and Response Committee (NEPRC) weekly meeting with partners, World Health Organization (WHO), U. S Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S CDC), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), etc., in attendance.

Meanwhile, findings from their surveillance supervision conducted shows major achievements in surveillance activities from urban and rural Montserrado districts (Central and Careysburg).They also identify challenges and advanced recommendations to improve the gabs in the surveillance system. The interns, in their supervision, praised the ongoing Liberia Field Epidemiology Training Program (LFETP) as a key factor to Surveillance Officers capacity. The LFETP is a three months intensive program implemented by the African Field Epidemiology Network (AFENET), designed to empower surveillance officers across the country.

According to a release from the National Public Health Institute of Liberia (NPHIL), NPHIL’s Director General, Hon. Tolbert G. Nyenswah, praised the interns for performing ‘exceptionally’ and called on them to remain focused.

The release quotes Hon. Nyenswah as saying “NPHIL is collaborating with various public health institutions, including the University of Liberia, for the training of public health technicians.” Currently, the University of Liberia has accepted curriculums from NPHIL following its final defense at the Faculty Senate. The initiative seeks to provide both bachelors and master degrees in Public Health with emphasis in Laboratory, Environmental Health, Health Systems Management, and Epidemiology. The release also said the University of Liberia has also accepted the Advanced Field Epidemiology Training Program as a separate course.