Acute Communicable Disease Program Assistant

Career Opportunities @Phmc•Philadelphia, PA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Acute Communicable Disease (ACD) Program Assistant position is a contract position that offers a great opportunity to gain experience in routine infectious disease surveillance activities at a major urban health department. The position is within the ACD Program of the Division of Disease Control (DDC) at the Philadelphia Department of Public Health (PDPH). The ACD Program is responsible for the surveillance, investigation, prevention, and control of all reportable acute communicable diseases, except tuberculosis, sexually transmitted diseases, and multidrug-resistant organisms. The position requires working on a multidisciplinary team with disease surveillance investigators, nurses, physicians, epidemiologists, and laboratory technicians.

Requirements

Attention to detail and excellent organizational skills
Computer skills are necessary and should include familiarity with Word, Excel, and REDCap, or at least the ability to learn these software programs.
Strong communication skills and ability to interact appropriately and effectively with a wide range of people
Experience conducting telephone-based interviews is advantageous.
The applicant will be expected to work independently and as part of a team.
A valid driver’s license and familiarity with driving in Philadelphia are required, as position duties include work in the community.
Demonstrated interest in public health and/or epidemiology and documentable experience with community engagement
Bachelor’s degree required.
Concentration in public health or biologic/social science preferred.

Responsibilities

Support data management activities for communicable disease surveillance, including processing and distributing electronic faxes to the investigation team, reviewing reports received electronically for completeness, entering new reports and laboratory results into the ACD web-based database (CDMS), and executing data quality assessments prior to the submission of datasets for nationally notifiable disease surveillance.
Coordinate submission of specimens and supporting documentation for testing at public health laboratories.
Transport clinical specimens from hospitals and healthcare providers’ offices to the PDPH Public Health Laboratory or DDC office for shipment to public health laboratories.
Package specimens for shipment to CDC and other public health laboratories.
Notify providers of results for testing conducted at public health laboratories when needed (e.g., outbreak response, emerging infections).
Schedule presentations and other educational activities with healthcare and community partners.
Schedule and assist with the organization and documentation of internal meetings and trainings.
Maintain and monitor ACD’s inventory of testing, mitigation, and outreach supplies, including storage location, expiration tracking, and placing additional purchase requests per DDC and PDPH specifications.
Coordinate the distribution of testing, mitigation, outreach, and medical countermeasure supplies in collaboration with other ACD or DDC staff.
Organize and conduct data intake support for vaccination, chemoprophylaxis, and testing clinics in the community.
Assemble materials for response clinics, outreach events, and mailings.
Conduct investigation interviews by telephone, in-person visit, or medical record review when needed.
Participate in emergency preparedness exercises along with training for potential surge support staff.
Participate in debriefings and contribute to the development of after-action reports.
Support other communicable disease surveillance and response activities as needed.