|
Our Ongoing Studies
Government Institute Awards $1 Million Grant to Teach Cultural Competency Skills to Physicians
SOURCE: Medical Directions, Inc.
October 1, 2004
Tucson, AZ, Oct. 1 -- The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease (NIDDK) today announced a 3-year grant totaling $1,068,242 to develop an innovative online education program to improve the ability of practicing US physicians to manage patients from diverse cultural backgrounds. The award was made to Medical Directions, Inc. of Tucson as part of the federal government's Small Business Technology Transfer program. Dr. Randa Kutob, Assistant Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Arizona, will lead a national group of medical educators in preparing and evaluating the online program.
"This project addresses a growing need that all physicians have to better manage cross-cultural issues in their practices," said Dr. Kutob. "In Tucson we have large Hispanic and American Indian populations, and I'm Arab-American. I can tell you from first hand experience that culture plays a big role in health care. Helping physicians better deal with cultural issues is one way physicians can help reduce health disparities. We faculty try to teach cultural competency skills to our students, but we need to reach out to practicing physicians as well. That's what this program will do."
The NIDDK award recognizes the growing use of Internet education by practicing physicians and the pioneering work of Medical Directions, Inc. The Company has previously developed government-funded online physician education programs in cancer prevention and domestic violence and works with major academic medical centers to provide online education programs to practicing physicians via its Web site, The Virtual Lecture Hall (www.vlh.com). The Virtual Lecture Hall occupies a unique position because it is supported by physician membership fees rather than pharmaceutical industry support.
Company President John Harris Jr., also a physician, notes, "This is a very important project and has a number of truly innovative features. Not only has Dr. Kutob assembled a spectacular team, with considerable expertise, but she has also designed a careful, real-world evaluation." He notes that the completed online program will be tested by physicians in Sharp Community Medical Group in San Diego before it is released in 2007. "We are particularly pleased that Dr. Luis Calo and his colleagues at Sharp will help us test and improve this program. You tend to assume that any kind of medical education is worth doing, but that may not be true. We should evaluate our medical education programs before we ask physicians to participate in them," says Dr. Harris.
About Medical Directions, Inc: Medical Directions is a privately held company that develops online education for physicians and other health professionals. The Company works closely with medical centers, medical societies, and expert authors to develop and market CME via The Virtual Lecture Hall (www.vlh.com). Since 1998, physicians have received over 64,000 hours of CME credit from The Virtual Lecture Hall. In 2002 MDI received a prestigious Tibbetts Award from the US Small Business Administration recognizing its work. More information on the Company can be obtained from the Medical Directions Web site, www.md-inc.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| To date our research has demonstrated that problem-oriented online courses can improve physician knowledge, attitudes, and skills in such areas as cancer prevention and domestic violence. We have shown that courses developed in the US can benefit physicians in another country.
|
|
