​The 2012 TRAIN Affiliate Consortium (TAC) Annual Meeting, held from May 1 to May 3 in Park City and Salt Lake City, UT, was attended by 38 participants from 19 TRAIN affiliate states and 3 national organizations, the Public Health Foundation and KMi (TRAIN’s technology partner). This year’s meeting focused on enhancing performance and improving operations to develop new partnerships and improve existing ones and provided participants training, resource sharing and networking opportunities.

Presenters highlighted TRAIN features, accomplishments, and initiatives. Presentations covered topics which included public health accreditation, how to approach potential partners, instructional design, parameters for HSEEP grant reporting, the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, and more. In addition, basic administrator training session for administrators new to the TRAIN system and for state health departments and organizations potentially interested in becoming TRAIN affiliates was conducted on April 30. This hands-on workshop allowed attendees the opportunity to gain experience with TRAIN’s functions and features such as reporting capabilities, managing course providers, learners, and resources, and developing course content with SCORM. Overall, the TAC Annual Meeting increased learning opportunities, knowledge, and skills for participants, in order to keep TRAIN running smoothly.

Since its inception in 2003, TRAIN continues to grow in size and functionality. Comprised of 25 affiliates which include 22 states and 3 national organizations (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), CDC’s Division of Global Migration and Quarantine and the Medical Reserve Corps), TRAIN has over 535,000 registered learners and more than 4,000 course providers who have posted over 25,500 trainings/courses. Affiliate states and national organizations that are a part of the TRAIN Community are able to develop and assign training plans, track learning, and generate reports.  Through collaborative partnerships, TRAIN ensures access to high quality education and training in online and classroom-based formats.

The TRAIN Community welcomes the opportunity for organizations who are interested in learning more about TRAIN’s features and functions to attend the 2013 TAC Annual Meeting. If your organization is interested in attending the meeting, please contact training@phf.org.