Introduction: The unpredictability of COVID-19 outbreak as it waxes, and wanes has led governments to different preventive measures. There were lockdowns, restriction of movements, and closure of institutions which disrupted regular education and trainings. In the developed world, this necessitated movement of education online rather than in-person. Online education had not been well established in Liberia before this outbreak. Therefore, the restrictions resulted in the suspension of the training of public health workforce, a critical component of effective outbreak response. The Liberia Field Epidemiology Training Program (FETP) could not continue to wait till the conditions are right to admit a new cohort. Therefore, we innovated to admit new cohort in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the standard.
Methods: We designed and implemented an online pre-admission course (O-PAC) which involved training and online examination. Using a checklist, we screened and selected affordable and secured online examination software which was able to identify unusual behaviors and yet easy to deploy and implement in the local setting. We described the process, analyzed for performance of the applicants, and presented results in figures, proportions, and tables.
Results: Of the forty-five persons who applied, thirty-one (69%) of the people were male, 23 (66%) were from the district level, 41 (91%) are graduates of LFETP-Frontline, 42 (93%) attended the O-PAC and 41(91%) took the examination. One (2%) had his examination terminated for unusual behavior. O-PAC reduced cost of PAC by 80%.
Conclusion: This innovation helped to admit a new cohort which commenced their training within the COVID-19 preventive measures.