Through a partnership with Yale University's School of Medicine, participants who enroll will receive continuing medical education (CME) credits for the online courses on bioterrorism and other public health threats.

The program, developed by the Pacific Emergency Management Preparedness and Response Information Network and Training Services (Pacific EMPRINTS), also features innovative online problem-based teaching cases that take the learner through mock scenarios for potential public health threats. It is the only program in the United States that offers this kind of problem-based training online. The site also includes simulated live-training exercises and links to relevant news articles and additional online disaster-preparedness resources.

The new program is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and administered by the UH Manoa's Department of Anthropology, a UH news release said. Pacific EMPRINTS has also developed a network of partnerships among healthcare organizations and universities throughout Hawai'i and the Mainland U.S., including UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Loma Linda and San Diego State Universities.