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CDC supports and encourages the development of experts on unintentional injury prevention to broaden and enrich the field of injury prevention. To this end, CDC staff recruits and trains injury prevention and control scientists and program specialists. Staff members also provide technical support for training and other programs conducted by partner organizations.
Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS)
This two-year, postgraduate program trains health and health-related professionals— physicians, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, nurses, veterinarians—in the practice of epidemiology and public health. Recent investigations by EIS officers working in unintentional injury include validation of drowning surveillance data; assessment of deaths and injuries resulting from choking; improvement of child passenger safety in Georgia; and evaluation of barriers that prevent children from walking and biking to school. In addition, EIS officers responded to the events of September 11, 2001, by assisting New York City emergency departments with surveillance of health problems associated with the attacks. EIS officers also assisted in the anthrax investigations in New York City and Washington, D.C., and provided antibiotics and anthrax education to postal workers.
Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) Fellowships
ASPH awards one- to two-year fellowships to graduates of accredited schools of public health and provides them an opportunity to work at CDC. Recent projects completed by ASPH fellows include an investigation of the characteristics and magnitude of injuries reported in the emergency department due to incidents involving motor vehicles and bicycles.
Visiting Scientist/Fellows Program
This program affords visiting fellows, academic researchers, scientists, and injury
prevention practitioners an opportunity to work at CDC on a variety of projects for terms ranging from three months to two years. Visiting fellows from Australia recently studied children’s playground injuries and elderly pedestrian injuries; assessed the relationship between alcohol, injuries, and health promotion; developed measures of exposure for falls and drownings; developed an injury prevention instrument to measure fire protection behaviors; and compared unintentional poisoning deaths in the United States and Australia. Visiting fellows also lectured at CDC about drowning prevention, the burden of injuries, and injury and trauma outcomes research.
Public Health Prevention Service (PHPS)
This three-year CDC training program helps individuals develop skills in planning,
implementing, and evaluating programs and interventions. During the first year, all prevention specialists work in two different program areas for six months each. Prevention specialists are then assigned to a two-year field placement in a state or local health department. Prevention specialists in unintentional injury recently evaluated a CDC bicycle helmet
promotion program; assisted in developing the study protocol and in managing a pilot test for an intervention to decrease anterior cruciate ligament injuries among female athletes; and helped select state health departments develop a comprehensive logic model for their injury program.
Visiting Students and International Scholars
Graduate students and scholars from the United States and other countries work with CDC on injury-related research. Recent work by graduate students includes promoting the
application of behavioral science to unintentional injury prevention in domestic and international settings, and assisting with research on bicycle safety. Recent work by an international scholar from the National Institute for Public Health, Ministry of Health and Welfare in Japan included adapting the NFPA Risk Watch Program for use in the Japanese school system.
Technical Assistance for Injury Prevention Degree Program
CDC also provides technical assistance and resource support to the injury prevention degree program at the United Tribes Technical College (UTTC) in Bismarck, North Dakota. This two-year associate degree program trains Native American tribal members to become injury prevention practitioners and to work at the tribal community level. Along with the Indian Health Service, CDC is currently supporting UTTC’s program.
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