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The STD/HIV Prevention Training Center of New
England
The
STD/HIV Prevention Training Center (PTC) of New England, a
project of the Division of STD Prevention of the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), was established in 1995. This was the first
time a center was funded to serve the New England region (Public
Health Region I). It is part of a coalition of ten CDC funded
centers working together to develop curriculum, distance learning
programs and evaluation methods. The mission of the PTC is to
offer courses in the prevention and management of STDs to health
care providers throughout the New England region. In order to
achieve this, the PTC works closely with the STD Divisions of
Region I states as well as many health care organizations.
The PTC offers experiential courses in the management of STDs
for clinicians in practice. These three day courses are held in
the Massachusetts General Hospital Genital Infectious Disease
Clinic and the Boston Medical Center STD Clinic. A home study
module is sent to accepted participants four weeks in advance
to review state-of-the-art information on the prevention, diagnosis
and treatment of STDs. Since its inception, the PTC has trained
over 200 medical providers through its three-day courses. In addition,
the PTC offers hands-on laboratory courses to increase skills
in interpreting stained smears, wet preparations and syphilis
serology. More than 300 laboratorians and clinicians have attended
these courses. The PTC also offers a yearly five-day course for
infectious disease fellows from surrounding institutions to meet
their need for STD education.
The PTC has also offered ten satellite broadcast programs downlinked
throughout New England (four of which were produced by the PTC)
covering topics such as herpes simplex virus infections, new laboratory
diagnostic technologies for the identification of chlamydia and
gonorrhea, and STD prevention counseling. Over 3000 clinicians
have attended these programs over five years. In a constant effort
to meet the needs of providers, the PTC is in the final phase
of developing a self-study module on sexual history taking and
STD screening recommendations, a videotape on the female pelvic
examination, and a videotape on wet preparation microscopy skills.
In fall of 1999, the first telephone conference was held regionally
on the topic of the new type specific HSV serologies featuring
experts from the University of Washington. Over 150 clinicians
attended the program.
As we enter the 21st century, the PTC hopes to continue its innovative
efforts to offer continuing education in the field of STD/HIV
prevention in the ever changing health care environment.
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Regional Training Center for Family Planning
www.famplan.org
Since 1978, John Snow, Incorporated (JSI)
has been the Regional Training Center for Family Planning in the six
state New England area. JSI has held a similar contract for Family
Planning Training in the six-state Rocky Mountain area (including
Colorado, Utah, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota) since
1982. Together JSI trains over 1,400 paid and voluntary staff of federally
funded (Title X) family planning projects with particular attention
to serving teenagers and low income women in need of family planning
and reproductive health care services. JSI's role is one of manager,
developer, coordinator and marketer of training courses. The program
serves all disciplines of family planning staff and includes training
on clinical, managerial, counseling, and health education topics.
The training events are designed to improve or maintain a high level
of knowledge and job specific skills.
Training is provided for all levels of staff from beginning through
advanced, with the appropriate curriculum for each. Faculty trainers
are selected based on an appropriate protocol with priority placed
on expertise in the subject matter and experience in family planning.
Approximately 40-50 training events are conducted each year in the
two regions combined. These events range in length from one to two
days and are attended by 20 to 225 participants.
Specific course offerings change each year to accommodate new initiatives
and medical technology updates and policy changes. Topics are determined
by consultation with DHHS Regional Office Staff, by national training
priorities, and annual and ongoing needs assessment.
In recent years, JSI has expanded its training in substance abuse
and in HIV and other STDs. Additional funding from the Office of Population
Affairs (OPA) through a joint agreement with the Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Administration (SAMHSA) has enabled JSI to enhance its
training related to substance abuse in women, and similar funding
arrangements with the Centers for Disease Control have allowed additional
training on HIV/AIDS.
Within its trainings, JSI has focused on teenage sexuality concerns;
preventing high-risk behavior; contraceptive options and preventing
unplanned pregnancies; and substance abuse and its affect on sexuality,
among other topics. |
In-services
Occasionally, the Region I Infertility Prevention Project hosts in-services
for the Advisory Board. There are no Region I Advisory Board in-services
currently scheduled.
Training
Click to
download information on the latest training opportunity:
(Acrobat Reader required Download
Acrobat Reader 5.0 free)
HIPAA
Information
HIPAA
See
attorney Susan Sheids 2002 presentation at Lake George for useful information on HIPAA (Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
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A project managed by JSI Research & Training
Institute, Inc.
Comments/Questions: webmaster@jsi.com |
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