The course on Contact Tracing was excellent. It introduces the many varied elements involved in the tracing work, as well as the varieties of ways in which the Covid-19 virus can affect the client, and his/her many contacts. One realizes it is a complex process involving personal rapport,, and knowledge of the virus's process, and the many ways the virus can affect the individual, and his/her contacts. One realizes tracing is a subtle process with a client on which the good health of our society depends in order to defeat the virus, and safeguard people. Thanks for making the course accessible in terms of content, and in the reinforcement by the testing process. Well-done. Regards, Jacqueline L. McSweeney

This well-rounded course prepares people to give clear, easy-to-understand explanations of COVID-19 and the ways it is transmitted. It trains them to compute when a person might have been infectious - transmitting the virus - and give recommendations for quarantine and self-isolation. It presents some of the people-skills required to do the work of contact tracing, including some of the difficult conversations and complex situations that can arise. Whether or not a person becomes a contact tracer, this course is useful for people in any organization which interacts with the public and needs to plan for their safety and be ready to notify those who may be affected if someone develops COVID-19. Recommended.

Dr. Gurley has a great instructor voice and speaks in a natural conversational voice. She adds value to the slides based on her professional knowledge. The course gives you the opportunity to assess your knowledge through quizzes throughout the modules.

What I appreciated as a student was the ability to see the time investment for each learning section and quiz, therefore, I knew where I could take breaks or if I could continue on for another 15 minutes before I walked my dog.

Near the final, I felt very confident based on my successful quizzes and the feedback provided. I passed the first time above 85 percent and took the final again the same day, to pass above 90 percent.

I highly recommend this course.

I thoroughly enjoyed this course . It is amazing how much information I learned from this course. It is not an easy course, but it is practical and extremely informative. I feel confident that I have all the necessary skills required to become a contact tracer. I now need to be accepted and then I will be able to experience the challenges that face a contact tracer. I want to be able to contribute my skills to aid in successfully decreasing the number of cases by providing comprehensive contact tracing. I am a retired Nurse and Case Manager and want to use these skills again. I highly recommend this course to anyone interested in becoming a contact tracer. Thrilled that I have passed this course.

I enjoyed taking this course on contact tracing. It has increased my knowledge and understanding of covid-19 and, especially, the value of employing contact tracing to help stop the spread of covid-19. Studying how to effectively interact with people who become cases and also their contacts, I appreciate the tools I have learned to support them. I understand about quarantine and was already able to share this information with someone yesterday. Thank you for the opportunity to take this course free of charge. I appreciate it and intend to pursue work as a contact trace person who will contribute in the greater community efforts to curtail covid-19 in the US. Thank you, again. Sincerely, Grace Callahan

Excellent Covid-19 Contact Tracing course! The instructor, Dr. Gurley was excellent with her explanation of the course material from the history of Covid-19 and the basics, calculating isolation and quarantine, the job of a contact tracer, various interview tips for effective communication and resources links for the contact tracer. Wow, such much valuable and useful information all in one place and so well organized. I enjoyed the course tremendously and couldn't wait to get on to the next module which helped me to expedite my learning way ahead of schedule and finished in a short time. I now feel quite confident of my ability to work as a contact tracer thanks to this course. Thanks, Dr. Gurley!

The COVD-19 Contract Tracing course was a great course. It was an arduous mental journey, yet easy to understand from the beginning to end. I learned a great deal in which I feel that all should take and learn. We all fear what we do not know and understand. However, once we learn and begin to know and understand, we then conquer our fears. This course helped me define what COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2) is and put it into perspective, how to be an effective contact Tracer, and how to communicate it effectively with "Listening to others", "Understanding others", "Assertive to others" and "Effective Communication" as we journey through this pandemic. Thank you Emily for a job well done! My hat's off to you.

This course was very informative. I learned things that I didn't know and needed to know. I am glad I took the time to complete it. I thought it would be boring in the beginning, but the instructor was very knowledgable and just made me stick with it. I would recommend that even if someone is not interested in working in the field of Contact Tracing, this course would help them in know how to address situations accurately, to build rapport among friends and family, and could even help to stop the spread of COVID-19. It is my hope to share what I have learned with others and since the course is free, it is a great incentive to get some good education. Thank you for sharing and making this available.

First, this course allows me to be knowledgeable about the current pandemic that occurs, COVID-19. Very informative on what it is, how contagious it is, the way it infects people, how to identify, and how to be a better contact tracer to help the community fights this health crisis.

Second, tips and guidelines are given in different situation. Be able to understand the value of rapport whenever having a call to the sick person and who have been in contact with them.

Third, a well informed technologies that offers assistance to a contact tracer are also an eye opener that everybody is doing our very best to help each other. Like this course!

A big thank you for making this free and available! Salute!

Very informative for anyone interested in learing more about COVID-19. Interesting to learn what a Contact Tracer's role is with regards to infectious diseases. What to expect when or if someone calls and why it is important or imperative to disclose information to minimize the spread. Helpful to have the vignette examples. Helpful to have questions throughout, aides in knowing I am processing and retaining information. Really liked the opportunity to take notes within each section of the modules. The instructor was easy to listen to, knowledgeable, and clear with information being relayed. The power point will be a very helpful tool. Thank you for this educational opportunity.

You keep it interesting somehow while helping to clearly express the relevant information. I was surprised to actually enjoy the course. I will debate you on the question I got wrong however.

( In your role as a contact tracer, you will ask cases about private information. "Imagine that you are interviewing Mr. Lawrence, a 45-year-old computer programmer. Examples of relevant and private information you might ask him could include:

You said relevant AND private, not Relevant OR private.

Whether they visited other people is not BOTH relevant and private, Although it might lead to private information.

Still thoroughly enjoyed the course and thank you for providing such a needed resource!

Fantastic intro course to contact tracing and learning about the entire process. Until recently this information was outside the scope of my knowledge base and I'm thankful that this course is offered. This course is great not only for those that plan or are already pursuing work as a contact tracer. The information contained within this course gives a great summation of topics including details about the virus, symptoms, incubation period, communication strategies, contact tracing tools and many others. I highly recommend this course for anyone pursuing work in contact tracing or those just wanting to learn more about preventing the spread of this or other viruses in the future.

Thank you, Dr. Emily! This course was so well done and thorough. Your pace of speech was pretty phenomenal and you covered some very difficult issues in a super clear manner.

One comment about the rating of each module: You may want to ask people to time themselves to get a clearer picture of how much time was spent on each one. I started and stopped mine a number of times so felt I was just guessing. Also the words used to rate the class didn't feel quite "on" to capture the feeling: ie: large leap between easy and difficult. You presented info so well that it really made the info quite easy but you covered some nicely complex subjects.

I can't thank you enough!

Be well!

The Contact Tracing course transcripts, videos, practice quizzes and downloadable presentation slides support a clear, concise and extensive foundation for this critical area of study. The course is being regularly updated to reflect the dynamic environment, as our understanding of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID 19) rapidly expands. This course equips the participant with both the scientific and humanistic tools to educate and secure information from cases and contacts through building rapport. An added benefit is that the skills learned will help generate confidence in public health and government/community services at a time when they are most needed. Thank you, Coursera and Johns Hopkins!

I loved this course. It gives you specifics, details, the big picture, vignettes, some solutions, questions to ask and phrases to help with your communication. I understand more than I did before I took this course. I feel I am prepared to be a contact tracer, as well as follow my local protocol. There are many circumstances that could make this difficult. I appreciate all the phases and information given. I will need to review and ingrain it more. This is fact and science based and I appreciate the time and attention given to this course. This is vital for the health of the cases, contacts, families, communities, states and our country. Thank you for making this available!

This was a comprehensive and thought-provoking course which enlightened me to many of the technicalities of this virus I otherwise do not believe I would have learned. This program makes perfect sense as so many either do know have enough knowledge to do the correct thing, or, they may be a bit resistant due to not believing it will affect themselves or those around them. In the grand scheme of things, 14 days of isolation or quarantine to save the lives of many due to spreading the virus is a very small price to pay. Think of it as paying it forward...we were given an opportunity to keep others healthy and are sharing this with others to play their part to do the same.

After 23 years in the Customer Service and Hospitality a a bartender and entertainer, I didn't feel that I could safely return to my prior feild. In my search for new career options, I was watching MSNBC and Dr. Gurley was being interviewed about COVID-19 and the urgent need for Contact Tracers. I immediately began to research this program for training. As a mother and grandmother the feild of Public Health has opened up a new door for me. I am excited to advance into an essential career and it began with this course. I extend my deepest gratitude to Dr. Gurelry and John hopkins University for providing this amazing oppurtunity. This course in Contact Tracing is the best!

I found this course to be very intuitive. The process and flow of the course was very detailed. Which made learning a want, instead of a need. I understand the role of a contact tracer and the importance to be thorough and precise. Keep detailed data for others to follow up on. Being able to close the window of infection rate between contacts. Remembering, these are people. Who are going thru a pandemic. A crisis not see in America for over 100 years. Must speak to them with compassion, understanding and humility. Goal to stop one chain of infection, to save lives. Hopefully we can get a handle on the spread of the virus in our community. Stay safe, Stay home, Save lives.

I wish I knew of this course at the beginning of this pandemic. The information is not necessarily new in comparison to what has been put out there by the media, yet it's definitely more detailed and comes from a respected institution of experts on the matter. This course has also admittedly changed my perspective on the decisions that are being made by our community's leaders and helps me better support and understand the steps needed to be made in order to effectively combat the spread of this virus. I would recommend this course even if someone is not looking to become a contact tracer (which I am not, but this course even makes the job sound interesting so who knows).

This course was SUPER helpful for me, as a recent International Medical Graduate! I could help around some of the people around me, with the information gathered about infectious periods, etc... It was extremely comprehensive, provided a lot of details, and all information was precise and concise. What I liked most is that Dr. Emily Gurley was able to portray everything in a clear way. Not only did she go and repeat certain key concepts, but she also reviewed/summarized these often, giving us numerous examples and videos. This Contact Tracing course was truly great and there are SO many things I could refresh about COVID-19, as well as gather a handful of new knowledge.

I enjoyed this course so much! I especially enjoyed the challenge of the quizzes and the final exam, because it's where I really felt the challenge and I enjoy challenges. The assessments challenge you to think about how you will actually help infected people effectively with the tools and skills being taught to you and this program was designed to be able to use all this knowledge to effectively control and end COVID-19, our government will definitely benefit from this to combat this new virus. I highly recommend this program to anyone who wants to help make a difference in this world and to help our country and the world to return to normalcy from this deadly virus.

Dear Dr. Emily Gurley,

Thank you very much for a interesting course about the COVID-19 Contact Tracing.

I really liked the parts where you included the video's and "behaviour" we must show when performing a contact tracing. We really need to pay attention and love to become a good Contact Tracer because we are in a period where there are to many people in the world who needs us.

This pandemic will end at a moment. It will depends on each of us, after, to do not forget this sad moment of our life and world and keep continuing being helpful and communicative, more empathetic.

Things will get better if we help us !

Kind regards,

Darco Azarmaneche

It was a wonderful experience to take this course. It is very informative, little bit difficult but every essential topics and tools have been described in this course and if followed it will really help to break the chain of COVID-19 infection in all countries. Since the out burst of COVID-19 infection i have taken up almost 35 to 36 online training and learning programs of different universities but this course is very unique and one of its kind. In every module you learn some thing new and exiting. Thanks & Regards to all those who have taken pain to make this course. IAs a doctor i had a wonderful experience through out this course.

Thank you to John Hopkins University and especially Dr. Emily Gurley for creating, offering and thoroughly teaching this course. The information given here about COVID-19 is very detailed, easily understandable and helpful. I am a bartender in New Orleans LA, as many know, our community was heavily infected. As we move into Phase I of reopening, like many other areas around the country, I felt that it was pertinent and responsible to take this course. I encourage everyone to take this course because it will help you understand this disease, the pandemic, recovery and limit the spread of COVID-19.

An invaluable tool for someone who is seeking, or is about to enter, a position as a Contact Tracer, or for those who are interested in one of the processes that will be used to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic, this Contact Tracing Course has to be one of the best sources of information available. While the course is obviously not designed to create an expert, it certainly helps to form a foundation toward a solid understanding.

I'd like to express my endearing gratitude to Johns Hopkins, and to all of those who are involved in making this course available at no charge.

Floyd III - Chesapeake VA