Developing a Training Program for Produce Farm Inspectors and Investigators, and Preparing a Cadre of Instructors to Deliver the Training

The International Food Protection Training Institute (IFPTI) seeks to achieve the following overarching goals through this project:<p><ol><li>Significantly increase FDA's capacity to prepare instructors across the US to deliver training to regulators at all levels</li><li>Create a competency-based curriculum framework for FDA's Produce Safety program in alignment with the National Curriculum Standard</li><li>Modify the FDA Produce Farm Investigations program in accordance with the instructional design approach as outlined in the FOA and already in use by IFPTI</li></ol></p><p> In order to achieve these overarching goals, IFPTI will, during the project period, satisfy the following deliverables:</p><p><ol><li>Deliver the Instructor Skills Training (IST) course, which IFPTI developed in 2014 and successfully piloted in 2015, to IFSS regulatory Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) on the best practices for instructing and delivering courses on the new FSMA regulations</li><li>Update DHRD's Produce Farm Investigations training program to include goals, objectives, learning outcomes, and competencies using the instructional design approach outlined in the announcement and as already practiced by IFPTI</li><li>Design and develop DHRD's new FSMA Produce Safety training program to include goals, objectives, learning outcomes, and competencies using the IFPTI Curriculum Development Process and the instructional design approach as outlined in the FOA and already in use by IFPTI</li><li>Design, develop, and deliver training for instructors (Course-Specific Instructor Training, or CSIT) on how to instruct and deliver specific classroom courses being developed under the new FSMA regulations (e.g., Preventive Controls for Human Food and Animal Food, and others as feasible)</li></ol></p><p>The proposed project has the potential to reach a significant portion of the food regulatory professionals who need to be trained on the new FSMA requirements, along with regulatory officials who perform inspections and investigations of produce farms. The project will also continue to build upon the efforts of the Partnership for Food Protection (PFP) Working Group related to the design and development of a competency-based, National Curriculum Standard for regulatory professionals to help create a truly integrated food safety system. </p>