Learning Center FAQs

Below are answers to frequently asked questions related to DelValle Institute classroom courses and technical requirements for online courses. If you have any additional questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to send them to us at delvalle@bphc.org. 

This Learning Center underwent a major system upgrade on October 22, 2018. Review frequently asked questions about this process.

Q&A about the Site Upgrade

Navigating the site

This website underwent a major system upgrade in October 2018, along with updates to the appearance and content of the site. We also made significant changes to our registration system. The site will continue to undergo updates throughout the fall and winter, and we ask for your patience as we continue to make changes and optimizations. If you notice a bug in the site or have a question about the upgrade that is not answered in the FAQs, please feel free to contact us at delvalle@bphc.org.

The Course History displayed on the Dashboard will list most of the instructor-led and self-paced trainings you have taken with us, with a few exceptions:

  • As a result of the October 2018 system upgrade, attendance records for trainings taken before July 2015 will not be displayed. At your request, we can provide you with a copy of attendance records for accreditation or other purposes.
  • If you registered for a course that was held before October 2018 but needed to cancel your registration, it will show up in your dashboard, under “Enrolled Courses” rather than “Completed Courses.”
  • If you register for an instructor-led course held after October 2018 but need to cancel or do not show up for the course, in most cases you will receive a notification from us and the course will be removed from your Dashboard entirely.

If you think that there is an error in the attendance history displayed on your Learning Center Dashboard, please send an email to delvalle@bphc.org with a description of what information is missing or inaccurate.

We have deleted accounts of users who have never logged in and have not taken one our classes since mid 2015. In addition, in winter 2018 we will be suspending accounts of users who have not logged in since October 2016. We are doing this to maintain an active list of users on the site. If you wish to reactivate a suspended account please email delvalle@bphc.org with the name and the email address linked to the suspended account.

Course registration

Self-paced online trainings are open to anyone interested in the subject.  In-person trainings are open to anyone in Massachusetts or surrounding areas, however, some courses may be targeted to specific audiences based on applicable grant funding guidance. Most trainings delivered via webinar can accommodate large class sizes and some are open to a national audience. Unless otherwise specified, all courses are free for registrants.

Registration is required for all instructor-led (classroom and live webinar) trainings. However, we  recognize that advanced registration is not always possible so walk-ins may attend the course at the instructor’s discretion. If you have a question about late registration, please contact the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness at delvalle@bphc.org or 617-343-1370.

To cancel registration for a course you are registered for, navigate to your Dashboard and click on the course. This will bring you to the course page. In the “Administration” block in the sidebar of the course page, click “Unenroll me”. You will be redirected to a confirmation page where you must select “Continue” to confirm that you wish to unenroll yourself from the course.

Please cancel your registration as soon as you know you are unable to attend to allow waitlisted registrants to join the course. If you still have trouble cancelling your registration, contact the DelValle Institute for Emergency Preparedness at delvalle@bphc.org or 617-343-1370.

All instructor led (classroom and webinar) courses have a participant limit based on instructor to student ratio as well as room size. Once the limit has been met, you may still apply for registration, but will be placed on a wait-list. As seats become available, waitlisted participants are automatically enrolled into the course in the order in which they applied for registration. Participants who have been accepted into the course will receive a confirmation email and access to the course page, which will specify important course logistics.

If severe weather should require a class cancellation, registrants will receive an email the evening before the class notifying them of the cancellation, so advanced registration is critical. Notice will also be posted on the DelValle Institute Learning Center website, and a cancellation message will be recorded on the DelValle Institute central phone line, 617-343-1370. All efforts will be made to reschedule the course; however, this may not be possible in all cases. Students will be notified of rescheduled dates or permanent cancellations.

To sign up for Boston Medical Reserve Corps courses you must be a member. To volunteer to become a Boston MRC member please visit www.bostonmrc.org and click on "Join the Boston MRC." Once you become a member and attend Orientation, you will receive the Boston MRC newsletter with links to course offerings and registration.

Technical requirements

To prepare for a webinar:

  1. Confirm that your hardware and software are ready for Adobe Connect 9.2.1 by performing a system self-test:
  2. Plug in your computer headset and/or speakers and confirm they are functioning properly. Note that many webinars do not have phone options and so require a strong internet connection.

To join the webinar:

  1. Click on the link from within the course page
  2. Enter as a Guest and type your full name when prompted
  3. Set up your audio. You may plug in your headset, headphones, or speakers to receive audio
  4. Participate in the session using the Chat pod to ask or respond to questions
Webinars hosted by the DelValle Institute are recorded. The link to the recording will be posted on the course page when it is available.

We recommend using the most recent versions of Google Chrome on desktop. Other desktop browsers that are reportedly compatible include Edge, Firefox, and Safari; older versions of Internet Explorer have known compatibility issues. Navigation of this site is also supported on mobile browsers, including Mobile Safari and Google Chrome.

Note About Online Trainings: All of our online courses are compatible with the latest version of Google Chrome on desktop. However, certain online courses are not compatible with other browsers, including several courses that have issues displaying on Internet Explorer.

Our online courses open in a new window, so pop-ups must be enabled. The following link details ways to enable pop-ups in different browsers and operating systems: https://www.wikihow.com/Allow-Pop–ups

If pop-ups are still disabled on your device after you followed the instructions in the article above, it could be that a toolbar add-on is blocking pop-ups. Check your toolbar settings to make sure pop-ups are enabled for https://delvalle.bphc.org.

Internet access with minimum 256+ Kbps connection is suggested for navigating the site and taking online courses; higher speeds are recommended. Internet access with a minimum of 512 Kbps is required for participating in webinars. 

Computer requirements are listed below.

  • Computer: 1GHz processor or higher (32- or 64-bit)
  • Memory: 1GB minimum
  • Display: 1,024 x 768 or higher recommended
  • Multimedia: Sound card and headphones or speakers

If you have questions or problems, please email delvalle@bphc.org or call us at 617-343-1370.

Miscellaneous

Yes, some of our courses  offer hours toward continuing education. Any accreditation offered will be specified within the course description.
Accreditation  offered includes:

  • Nursing: Some of our training programs are designed to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Nursing, 244 CMR 5.00. The number of credit hours are specific to the length of the course. To receive a certificate of training with continuing education credit hours for a qualified training program, nurses must complete a pre-test, score at least 70% on the post test and complete the course evaluation.
  • EMT: Some of our training programs are approved for OEMS (Massachusetts Office of Emergency Medical Services) continuing education credit hours.  The number of credit hours and OEMS levels (EMT-Basic, Advanced EMT, and Paramedic ) are specific to the length of the course and the training program. Unless otherwise specified, courses are only approved for Individual Continued Competency Requirements. To receive a certificate of completion with continuing education credit hours for a qualified training program, EMTs and Paramedics must complete the course evaluation.
  • Health Officer: Some of our training programs are designed to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Health Officers, 241 CMR 4.00 for contact hours of continuing education. The number of credit hours are specific to the length of the course. To receive a certificate of completion with continuing education credit hours for a qualified training program, Health Officers must complete the course evaluation.
  • Registered Sanitarian: Some of our training programs are designed to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Board of Registered Sanitarians, 255 CMR 5.00 for contact hours of continuing education. The number of credit hours are specific to the length of the course. To receive a certificate of completion with continuing education credit hours for a qualified training program, Registered Sanitarians must complete the course evaluation.

We are always available to help you meet your training needs in any way we can. If you are interested in receiving training on a topic not listed in our catalog, send us an email with your request. We will let you know how we can help you – whether it be through including you in a current grant-funded project that meets your need, launching a new project with you, or sharing past curriculum and other resources.

Job postings can be found on the Boston Public Health Commission’s career page. If you don’t see any openings on the career page in the Office of Public Health Preparedness, this means that there aren’t any job opportunities in our office at this time.
For more information about applying for internships or working with us in another capacity, please visit that section on our Get Involved page.

Our monthly newsletter contains updates about our work, upcoming trainings and the latest news in emergency preparedness. Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking “Unsubscribe from this list” in the footer of the newsletter emails.
Last modified: Thursday, April 29, 2021, 2:48 AM