Over the past year, Wake AHEC in Raleigh has partnered with several departments in the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to provide online programming for health care professionals. These have enabled participants to obtain mandatory training from their workplace – saving time, travel and money.

Rabies Certified Vaccinator Course:

This is a four-part recorded webinar that provides the required didactic training per NCGS 130A-186. The local health director (LHD) appoints one or more certified rabies vaccinators to vaccinate dogs, cats and ferrets in their jurisdiction where licensed veterinarians are not available to participate in all scheduled county rabies control clinics, and/or to participate in the county rabies control program. Once appointed, the CRV must receive training from the state public health veterinarians, or a veterinarian designee, who must certify in writing that the CRV satisfactorily completed the training. In the past, the state veterinarians were traveling across the state several times a year to provide this training. Since starting the program in 2015, 140 vaccinators have been trained.

Communicable Disease Curriculum:

This is a series of 14 recorded webinars that provide public health nurses functioning as the communicable disease nurses in local health departments with the foundation needed to conduct communicable disease surveillance and investigation in North Carolina. The course interprets NC Public Health Law which authorizes the State and local health departments to conduct surveillance and investigation. It also introduces participants to the process of outbreak investigations and provides an overview of the most commonly reported communicable diseases and conditions in North Carolina and appropriate disease investigation steps. Since 2014, 85 have successfully completed the course.

Hepatitis Series:

The newest series is related to hepatitis B and C. In North Carolina, it is estimated there are at least 110,000 individuals who are infected with chronic hepatitis C (CDC). The original Communicable Disease course was launched over ten years ago and included basic hepatitis overview information. Test scores from a CD Online Course indicate continued confusion surrounding application of case definitions, interpretation of lab results and identification of resources. This three-part webinar series discusses medical information, recommendations and treatment guidelines for hepatitis B and C and reporting in the North Carolina Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NC EDSS). It provides an online 24-hour program that will help enhance knowledge and understanding of hepatitis, and provide resources to those around the state providing care for these patients.