Medical professionals to focus on preventionby Cindy AbolePublic Relations In today’s era of high-tech medical care where health care professionals practice in multidisciplinary work environments, there is a growing interest to better prepare medical professionals to work together to promote health through disease prevention. Recent public health concerns such as the West Nile virus and the SARS and obesity epidemics remind the public about the important roles of prevention and population health within society. A recommendation in Healthy People 2010, a set of health objectives and initiatives to improve the nation’s health published by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, challenged the effectiveness of clinical education training and recommended a greater emphasis on health promotion and disease prevention in health professions programs. This challenge prompted the Association of Teachers of Preventative Medicine (ATPM) to collaborate with the Association of Academic Health Centers in 2003 to create the Healthy People Curriculum Task Force. The task force is composed of representatives from each of the seven clinical health professions: Association of American Medical Colleges, American Dental Education Association, American Association of Colleges of Nursing, National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and Association of Physician Assistant Programs. The group also includes representatives from the Student Health Alliance, a consortium of 11 health professional student organizations, and two resource groups: the Association of Schools of Public Health and the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health. “Our aim is to attain the Healthy People 2010 objectives by increasing the attention that prevention receives in health professions education,” said David Garr, M.D., professor, MUSC Department of Family Medicine, co-chair of the task force and ATPM president. The task force provides guidance and support for educational programs, encouraging them to develop prevention curricula as defined by their institutions, professional organizations, and peers. “To successfully integrate prevention into practice, it is important for educators and supporters to be vested in a shared commitment to communication and collaboration,” Garr said. Early in 2004, the task force developed a curriculum framework for teaching clinical prevention and population health to health professions students. The members of the task force unanimously endorsed this framework. “It’s not often that a project brings together people from different health professions disciplines who agree with one another,” Garr said. “It’s a testimony to the importance everyone places on increasing the emphasis on prevention. If we can train the next generations of practitioners to be effective at incorporating prevention in their daily work, many of the problems we presently deal with can be prevented, resulting in significant improvement in the health of the U.S. population.” The curriculum framework contains four content areas: Evidence Base of Practice, Clinical Preventive Services-Health Promotion, Health Systems and Policy, and Community Aspects of Practice. It provides a structure for organizing and monitoring prevention curricula and communicating and interfacing within other disciplines. Some areas of study include epidemiology and biostatistics, outcome measurement, screening and counseling, immunizations, health services financing, health systems and policies, and population and global health. The task force is anxious to see the framework implemented in the near future in health professions programs throughout the United States. Central to its continuous development and usefulness will be an online, searchable database called the Prevention Education Resource Center. The database, scheduled to be pilot tested in 2005, will provide access to curricula in a number of clinical disciplines, links to consultants, and many other features. “The overall project provides important preparation for health care professionals in the areas of clinical prevention and public health,” said Clyde Evans, Ph.D., vice president of the Association of Health Centers. “It is my hope that each organization supports, blesses, and endorses this framework project.” Garr and task force members recently learned that a manuscript describing the clinical prevention and population health curriculum framework has been accepted for publication in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Meanwhile, Garr will promote the work of the task force as a valuable resource for leaders and curriculum educators, including those in MUSC’s colleges. “It is important to identify a champion or leader of this framework in each college because they can help promote prevention and make sure it is being taught,” Garr said. “I would like to see MUSC become one of the nation’s leaders in both teaching and expanding programs in clinical prevention and population health.” For information about the task force and a copy of the framework, visit http://www.atpm.org. ATPM Task Force Members
Friday, Aug. 6, 2004
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