I consider the work I did to earn an IVM certificate to be some of the most important learning experiences I had in my life. In completing my IVM certificate, I completed two separate projects: one evaluating the impact of community-based education programs on livestock management and zoonotic diseases in Nepal, and the other on determining the sensitivity and specificity of the Participatory Disease Surveillance method for detection of HPAI in poultry in Indonesia.
These projects gave me experience in working internationally that is helpful to me today. In 2014 and 2015, as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer with CDC, I deployed to Liberia for the Ebola outbreak. Because of my previous experience, I think I was able to adapt to the environment quickly; the conditions of the medical facilities and health infrastructure, and the lack of available resources, were not a surprise to me.
From things as small as being able to boil water for drinking and brushing teeth, to cultural competencies of knowing when it is appropriate to barter or not, to professional competency in being able to sit down at the table with other governmental and non-governmental organizations and represent my agency, these were all skills I had developed in the IVM program.