The Tanzania Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), a competency-based, two-year Master of Science program in Applied Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory Management.

In Tazania, new graduates of the Tanzania Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP) receive their diplomas. Source: Peter McElroy/PMI

On December 11, 2010, the first cohort of 10 students graduated from the Tanzania Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Program (FELTP), a competency-based, two-year Master of Science program in Applied Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory Management.

The School of Public Health at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences awarded the degrees.

The program was implemented in 2008—in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Tanzania—to cultivate public health professionals who could provide epidemiological and laboratory services and support public health systems at the national, regional, and local levels. FELTP is supported with funding from PEPFAR and PMI.

Two additional cohorts totaling 23 students are currently enrolled in the program. All but one of the recent graduates have returned to their former employment or accepted new positions at the Ministry of Health.