Continuing medical education challenges in chronic fatigue syndrome

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) affects at least 4 million people in the United States, yet only 16% of people with CFS have received a diagnosis or medical care for their illness. Educating health care professionals about the diagnosis and management of CFS may help to reduce population morbidity associated with CFS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This report presents findings over a 5-year period from May 2000 to June 2006 during which we developed and implemented a health care professional educational program. The objective of the program was to distribute CFS continuing education materials to providers at professional conferences, offer online continuing education credits in different formats (e.g., print, video, and online), and evaluate the number of accreditation certificates awarded.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We found that smaller conference size (OR = 80.17; 95% CI 8.80, 730.25), CFS illness related target audiences (OR = 36.0; 95% CI 2.94, 436.34), and conferences in which CFS research was highlighted (OR = 4.15; 95% CI 1.16, 14.83) significantly contributed to higher dissemination levels, as measured by visit rates to the education booth. While print and online courses were equally requested for continuing education credit opportunities, the online course resulted in 84% of the overall award certificates, compared to 14% for the print course. This remained consistent across all provider occupations: physicians, nurses, physician assistants, and allied health professionals.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These findings suggest that educational programs promoting materials at conferences may increase dissemination efforts by targeting audiences, examining conference characteristics, and promoting online continuing education forums.</p

Do you think it's a disease? a survey of medical students

Background: The management of medical conditions is influenced by whether clinicians regard them as "disease" or "not a disease". The aim of the survey was to determine how medical students classify a range of conditions they might encounter in their professional lives and whether a different name for a condition would influence their decision in the categorisation of the condition as a 'disease' or 'not a disease'. Methods. We surveyed 3 concurrent years of medical students to classify 36 candidate conditions into "disease" and "non-disease". The conditions were given a 'medical' label and a (lay) label and positioned where possible in alternate columns of the survey. Results: The response rate was 96% (183 of 190 students attending a lecture): 80% of students concurred on 16 conditions as "disease" (eg diabetes, tuberculosis), and 4 as "non- disease" (eg baldness, menopause, fractured skull and heat stroke). The remaining 16 conditions (with 21-79% agreement) were more contentious (especially obesity, infertility, hay fever, alcoholism, and restless leg syndrome). Three pairs of conditions had both a more, and a less, medical label: the more medical labels (myalgic encephalomyelitis, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction) were more frequently classified as 'disease' than the less medical (chronic fatigue syndrome, high blood pressure, and impotence), respectively, significantly different for the first two pairs. Conclusions: Some conditions excluded from the classification of "disease" were unexpected (eg fractured skull and heat stroke). Students were mostly concordant on what conditions should be classified as "disease". They were more likely to classify synonyms as 'disease' if the label was medical. The findings indicate there is still a problem 30 years on in the concept of 'what is a disease'. Our findings suggest that we should be addressing such concepts to medical students

The many faces of translational research: a tale of two studies

Translational research can take many forms: bench to bedside, across cultural groups, across geographical boundaries, among others. This case study will share how we addressed all three “translational” issues using two evidence-based studies (USA, Zambia) to illustrate these “roads less traveled.” Our implementation and dissemination efforts were anchored by the “train the trainer” strategy, and the Glasgow RE-AIM model provided programmatic guideposts and direction. Keeping all stakeholders (scientific, community, political) involved in the implementation and dissemination process was an essential, perhaps determining factor in the success of the translation process

Translation of a comprehensive health behavior intervention for women living with HIV: the SMART/EST Women's Program

Translation of behavioral interventions into community settings for people living with HIV/AIDS can decrease the risk of comorbid conditions. This study was designed to determine whether a multiple health behavior intervention for women with HIV/AIDS could be effectively translated into community health centers (CHCs), delivered by CHC primary care staff. Health Resources and Services Administration-supported CHCs in Miami, FL, and the New York metropolitan area participated. Six health behavior domains were assessed at baseline, 6 months, and 12 months post-intervention: nutrition, physical activity, sexual risk behavior, alcohol use, drug use, and tobacco use. Behavioral outcomes were compared between research staff-led and CHC staff-led intervention groups. Research staff and CHC staff outcomes were similar for the majority of outcomes. Results indicate that complex, multicomponent behavioral interventions can be translated into community-based settings with existing CHC staff and can produce clinical effects similar to those achieved by research staff