Public Health Application
of the Experience API
Nancy Gathany, PhD & Rhonda Willis, MBA
OSELS/Educational Design and Accreditation Branch
MedBiquitous Annual Meeting
April 9, 2013
Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services
Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Nation’s premier public health agency— working to
ensure healthy people in a healthy world.
Public Health Community
All who work to protect and improve the public’s health
 Behavioral scientists
 Educators
 Epidemiologists
 Laboratorians
 Nurses
 Pharmacists
 Physicians
 Veterinarians
Abundance of Training Sources
Uncoordinated collections of training within CDC
and throughout the public health community



State & Local health departments  Federal Agencies (HRSA, AHRQ, etc)
Hospitals, clinics, physicians’ offices  Non-profit organizations and
foundations
Academia
Part One of the Solution:
CDC Learning Connection

2010 - we created the CDC Learning Connection
 Coordinate the delivery of CDC’s training for learners throughout
the public health community

2011 – Added an LMS, CDC TRAIN, a dynamic public
health learning management system

Today – the Learning Connection
is a one-stop learning resource
that provides free access to
products developed for the
public health community
www.cdc.gov/learning
CDC Learning Connection
April Update for CDC LC Website
CDC TRAIN Home page
www.cdc.gov/learning
Part Two of the Solution:
Public Health Learning Data Store

GOAL
Develop a central data store where learning management
systems (LMSs) seamlessly share thousands of public
health related training
Steps to Constantly Revisit

Keep stakeholders engaged

Revisit policies and security requirements as technology
evolves

Perfect how you communicate the concept
Sequential Steps



Assess current resources and determine needs
Create implementation plan with input from experts
Conduct formative evaluation




Test the concept through peer review
Pilot test prototype
Secure funding
Initiate procurement process for required components
Public Health
Learning
Data Store
Benefits

Make it easy to deliver training through a central data
store connected to multiple LMSs
 Learners can locate training across multiple LMSs
 Developers can identify similar training content and reduce
training redundancy


Store e-learning files
Track e-learning usage data
Challenges





Funding
Staying on top of Operation and Maintenance
User Support
Similar to LMS
Abstract concept to convey
We must determine ways to
amplify every dollar in
public health.
--Harvey Fineberg, PhD
President of the Institute of Medicine
December 2012
Thank you!
For questions and additional information about this presentation, please contact us at:
Nancy Gathany NGathany@cdc.gov
Rhonda Willis: RWillis3@cdc.gov
or visit us at:
www.cdc.gov/learning
For more information please contact Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30333
Telephone: 1-800-CDC-INFO (232-4636)/TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: cdcinfo@cdc.gov
Web: http://www.cdc.gov
The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services
Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office