In March 2022, UKHSA in collaboration with National Institute of Health (NIH) took the initiative to start two workforce development programs to build the softer public health skill of surveillance and public health labs staff involved in implementation of IDSR in Pakistan. Aspiring Labs Leaders (ALL) program and Public Health System Mentoring Scheme (PHSM) was designed and delivered by UKHSA with a context to help IDSR workforce in developing leadership skills and public health networking through peer-to-peer support. Both ALL and PHSM training workshops were conducted in March 2022 by UKHSA workforce development subject matter experts and the in-country team to cohort of public health labs representatives and a diverse group of surveillance system mentors and mentee across all provinces and regions of Pakistan. The technical sessions of ALL program and peer support through PHSM completed in next six months after the initial training workshops.

From February 28 to March 01, 2023, a two-day activity was planned to invite the ALL program participants and PHSM mentors to Islamabad with the objective to provide top up training and evaluate the both programs. The activity was jointly planned and delivered by workforce development subject matter expert and in-country team. The training need assessment for top-up training was conducted by administrating a questionnaire via email to participants of both programs. Based on responses, top-up topics were selected and delivered. To evaluate the programs and capture in-depth learning of participants the focus group discussions were conducted to generate responses on four thematic areas. The thematic areas were broadly focused on program structure, delivery, content, participant expectations and application of skills. A detailed evaluation report for both programs was developed to share the learning for future work.                                                                                                            

Syed Wasif Javed / Jessica Moll