Training - Engineering - Community Water Fluoridation

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CDC-Sponsored Water Fluoridation Training

The CDC offers limited training in water fluoridation engineering and operations and does not have the staff resources to provide special training for groups, organizations, or utility systems. The following courses have been developed and are offered by CDC to assist with the management of state fluoridation programs and water treatment facility operations. Enrollment in these courses is open to any state program official, water utility system staff, water facility operator trainers or support personnel, and registered engineers.

Water Fluoridation: Principles and Practices is a CDC-sponsored course on basic community water fluoridation. The course is offered periodically in Tennessee and California. Course attendance is limited because of space and facility considerations, so pre-registration and approval are necessary, with the preference given to state employees. There is no tuition fee for accepted state program employees, but attendees are responsible for their own travel and per diem expenses. CDC awards participants 1.8 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) or 18 Professional Development Hours for completing the course, which is conducted over 3 days. See a typical course agenda and subject content.

Use of the Water Fluoridation Reporting System is an optional half-day course (0.3 CEUs) for those responsible for maintaining state program records, immediately preceding the Water Fluoridation: Principles and Practices course.

Future training dates:

Murfreesboro, Tennessee:
CDC will offer Water Fluoridation: Principles and Practices September 29–October 1, 2009, along with an optional half-day course on the Water Fluoridation Reporting System on September 28, 2009, at the Doubletree Hotel and the Julian R. Fleming Training Center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Course attendance is limited to 25.

Sacramento, California:
CDC will offer Water Fluoridation: Principles and Practices March 3-5, 2009, along with an optional half-day course on the Water Fluoridation Reporting System on March 2, 2009, at the Capitol Plaza Holiday Inn in Sacramento, California and the City of Sacramento Fairbairn Water Treatment Facility. Course attendance is limited to 21.

Contact CDC at oralhealth@cdc.gov if you have questions about this training.

Advanced Engineering Course has been provided periodically and is designed for state fluoridation engineers with an emphasis on water fluoridation engineering and facility installations. It is anticipated that this course will be offered next in 2012.

The 6-hour Water Fluoridation Training Course offers assistance to states in providing water treatment facility operator training. The template can be customized by individual state programs. A draft was released to state dental directors and drinking water administrators in September 2005 for comment, which will be used to improve the training. The final version is expected to be available in 2010. CDC does not offer CEU credit for this course, but state program sponsors often do provide credit. If you are interested in this training, please contact your state dental director, drinking water administrator, or trainers of water treatment facility operators to learn when this training will be offered in your state.

The CDC has been reviewed and approved as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), 8405 Greensboro Drive, Suite 800, McLean, VA 22102. The CDC awards 0.3 of CEUs to participants who successfully complete the Water Fluoridation Reporting System training and 1.8 of CEUs to participants who successfully complete the Water Fluoridation: Principles and Practices training.