title: Appraising outbreak investigation skills in a public health emergency: an examination based on an actual event.
abstract: The purpose of this article is to provide a method of appraising skills in surveillance, assessment, and public health emergency investigation by using an examination based on an actual outbreak occurrence. This article presents an examination that uses a problem-based approach that works sequentially through the steps of an outbreak investigation to assess the investigation skills of individual students. Designed for graduate public heath students enrolled in a course in infectious disease epidemiology at East Carolina University, the examination can be used to appraise the outbreak investigation skills of medical students or practitioners.
authors.affiliation: Division of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Department of Family Medicine, Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27834, USA.
authors.forename: Heather M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Seagle
authors.forename: Cynthia B
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Morrow
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cibula
authors.forename: Kathryn W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Kerkering
authors.forename: Lloyd F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Novick
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D005759:Gastroenteritis / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods*; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D011635:Public Health Administration / Q000592:standards*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology