Online course will train public health investigators on contact tracing for COVID-19

The West Virginia University School of Public Health and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) Bureau for Public Health are partnering on an initiative to recruit participants for a newly developed online course, Contact Tracing for COVID-19.

Launching this week, this course aims to train a ready pool of public health investigators in West Virginia. All participants who complete the course are required to assist with contact tracing efforts as needed throughout the COVID-19 public health crisis.

Ideal candidates for this initial offering include members of the National Guard and anyone assisting the DHHR or local health departments. Senior undergraduate and graduate level students in public health, health professional programs and related fields may still participate and are highly encouraged to consult with their academic mentors if activities in this course could count towards required clinical or service hours. All practical activities associated with the course will be tracked in iServe.

Didactic modules of the course include Basics of Infectious Disease Epidemiology with Reference to COVID-19, General Overview of COVID-19 Testing, Infection Control Measures for COVID-19, Public Health Surveillance, and practical training in contact tracing using standardized methods developed by DHHR’s Bureau for Public Health.

A capstone project connects each participant with a health department to complete contact tracings under supervision and is required for all participants.

At present, this is a non-credit course, but a credit-bearing option for the summer semester is forthcoming. Participants interested in obtaining credit may wish to register for the course at a later date.

Anyone wishing to enroll must contact Joanna DiStefano at Joanna.DiStefano@hsc.wvu.edu. For more information on the course, please contact Chris Martin at cmartin@hsc.wvu.edu.