About the Training Program
Partner Services and Program Support Training is designed for staff members involved in STD/HIV testing, counseling, partner notification, and referral services. Our offerings are for federal, state and local public health professionals, especially those working in STD/HIV prevention programs. Health care professionals may increase their knowledge and skills in Interviewing, Counseling, Field Safety, Partner Management, and Social Marketing.
Course Descriptions
Partner Services
Program Support
Introduction to STD Intervention (ISTDI)
This 2-week course is designed for full-time disease intervention specialists. It emphasizes the development of skills and techniques for interviewing STD patients in order to identify sex partners for referral to medical evaluation. It also focuses on how to help patients manage current infections and prevent future ones. Participants practice communication, problem solving, and motivation skills in role-plays, and receive feedback from the instructor. The course includes an introduction to visual case analysis for syphilis, case management, and the medical aspects of STDs, and an explanation of intervention forms. View Course Outline
Fundamentals of STD Intervention
This 1-week course is designed for health care workers who interview STD patients on a limited basis. It provides participants with basic STD interviewing skills with a focus on conducting chlamydia and gonorrhea counseling sessions. The course addresses the basics of individual case analysis but does NOT provide in-depth training in syphilis case management and visual case analysis. Course content emphasizes improvement of healthful behaviors of STD patients and prompt referral of sex partners. View Course Outline
HIV Partner Counseling and Referral Services (PCRS)
This 3-day course provides health care personnel and counselors with the knowledge and skills to conduct partner counseling, elicitation, and field-oriented HIV partner notification. Participants develop skills by role-playing situations likely to be encountered in an HIV field investigation. A prerequisite for this course is the successful completion of the course Fundamentals of Prevention Counseling. View Course Outline
Additional Course Offerings
Chlamydia Partner Management for Family Planning Providers
This 1-day course assists family planning staff to facilitate a client-centered discussion of Chlamydia infection and appropriately answer client concerns around partners. Discussion of key client motivators in explaining the benefits of partner referral to clients is addressed and also features information about all sex partner notification options, with an emphasis on client self-referral of partners for examination and treatment.
Partner Services and Referral for Health Care Professionals
The 1 to 3-day course is designed to enable health care professionals, especially in rural health care settings, to develop the skills, knowledge and techniques to better elicit, notify and refer sex partners of clients infected with STDs or HIV infection. This course is also available as a training-of-trainers for STD/HIV prevention program staff interested in obtaining the skills and materials needed to present this course independently in their local site. This course can be accomplished through distance learning methods using self-paced modules, or presented on-site as a classroom training. Students skills are evaluated through videotaped role plays scenarios, and through pre- and post-course testing. Feedback is provided for both training settings. The 16-hour course on STD partner elicitation/notification can be expanded to 24 hours to include instruction on partner elicitation/notification for patients infected with HIV infection.
Training Operations to Promote Safety Around Field Encounters (TOPSAFE)
This 2 -day, interactive, skill-building course is for public health professionals who are involved in fieldwork, such as full-time Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) or community outreach workers. Participants experience situations associated with basic safety principles, interpersonal communications and problem solving. This course is also available in a self-study format.
A Day on the Trail of STDs in Hypothetica County
This computer-based training CD-ROM program is designed for entry-level disease intervention specialists (DIS) to strengthen field investigation skills. In this multimedia course, the trainee works for a day at a simulated STD office-attending training, assigning field priorities and conducting partner notification and referral activities. Click here to see short demonstrations of this simulated training program.
Social Marketing
This introductory course provides the knowledge and skills necessary to effectively apply the principles and techniques of social marketing to local and regional STD/HIV prevention, testing and treatment activities. Content includes analysis of case studies, experiential exercises and lecture. The course is usually tailored to local program needs, and can be delivered in half-day or two-day formats.
Where is this Training Available?
Training Schedule/Registration
Introduction to Sexually Transmitted Disease Intervention (ISTDI) and Fundamentals of STD Intervention Courses:
The 2-week ISTDI course is open only to new full-time Disease Intervention Specialists (DIS) working in STD/HIV Prevention programs. Health workers who perform STD client interviews and those who supervise staff involved in these duties (but do not perform these activities directly) are eligible for the 1-week Fundamentals course.
Both courses are scheduled on demand. Supervisors who have staff needing this training should contact Charlene Cutting (518-474-1692) for course details and scheduling information.
Other Partner Services and Program Support Courses:
All other PTC courses are scheduled based on need and demand, and are primarily held off-site in partnership with a local requesting agency. To explore scheduling a course in your area, contact Sue Anne Payette, PTC Coordinator at (518-474-1692).
Staff Directory:
New York State STD/HIV Prevention Training Center
New York State Department of Health
1142 Corning Tower, ESP
Albany, NY 12237
Training Center General Phone: (518) 474-1692
Partner Services and Program Support Training Office
Key to Abbreviations:
Bureau of Sexually Transmitted Disease Control (BSTDC)
New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH)
Prevention Training Center (PTC)
F. Bruce Coles, D.O.
Director, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-3598 fbc01@health.state.ny.us
Sue Anne Payette
Prevention Training Center Coordinator, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-1692 sxp04@health.state.ny.us
Charlene Cutting
PTC Registration/Data Administration, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-1692 cic01@health.state.ny.us
Paul Reyes
Partner Services PTC Training Instructor, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-1692 par12@health.state.ny.us
Lisa Papa
Partner Services PTC Training Instructor, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-1692 lcp02@health.state.ny.us
Alison Muse
PTC Evaluation, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-3598 atg01@health.state.ny.us
Rosalind Thomas
PTC Program Development and Planning, BSTDC, NYSDOH
(518) 474-3598 rpt01@health.state.ny.us
