Trainer Cycle #2: Prague and Budapest
Summary of Trainer Program Activities in 1999
The primary objective of the “International Medical Education and Harmonization Program for Nuclear Accident Preparedness” is to create a faculty cadre and use it to teach continuous programs on the handling of radiation accidents by emergency personnel. An additional objective is the improvement of collaboration among existing regional emergency personnel, training centers and other sites.
In 1999 the training program expanded to two new sites in Central Europe. By program design, faculty members for each successive training course are selected from the participant pool of previous courses. These elements foster faculty cohesiveness and integration of the curriculum. Accordingly, selected participants of the train-the-trainer course held June 14-18, 1999 at the 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, became the faculty for the “echo” course held at “Frederic Joliot-Curie” National Research Institute of Radiobiology and Radiohygiene, Budapest, Sept. 27-Oct. 1, 1999.
The training program uses a core curriculum that was developed by the US Dept. of Energy’s Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site. The curriculum is reviewed and updated by IAEA and tested in a continuous feedback process each time it is delivered. Eight programs have been conducted since 1997, in two trainer cycles comprising two trainer programs and six “echo” courses. The training model has been implemented at nine new sites. The instructor cadre now numbers 34 individuals, up from 29. Medical providers trained under the program numbered approximately 250 persons in October 1999. By the program’s end, some 850 professionals will have been trained. Faculty effectiveness has been evaluated and recommendations have been developed as part of program design.
As the program unfolds, the inclusion of more IAEA member nations is envisioned, with a growing number of trainees capable of teaching the medical aspects of radiation accidents to emergency personnel in their home countries. Participating nations include Ajerbaijian, Albania, Armenia, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russian Federation, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Syria, Turkey, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
