The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #45472

Deborah D. Riopelle, MSPH¹, Megumi Kano, MPH², Kimberley Shoaf, DrPH³, and Steven Rottman, MD². (1) Center for Public Health and Disasters, University of California Los Angeles, 10911 Weyburna Ave, 2nd floor, Los Angeles, CA 90024, (2) Center for Public Health & Disasters, UCLA, 10911 Weyburn Ave, 2nd floor, Los Angeles, CA 90024, 310-794-0864, riopelle@ucla.edu, (3) Center for Public Health & Disasters, University of California, Los Angeles, 10911 Weyburn Avenue #209, Los Angeles, CA 90024

The objectives of the "Bioterrorism: Are You Prepared?" project were 1) to design a highly focused continuing education curriculum for practicing physicians (internists, family physicians, pediatricians, and emergency medicine physicians) on recognizing and responding to a bioterrorism incident and 2) to disseminate the training materials through an organization-based website. Training materials included a PowerPoint slide presentation with speaker's notes, Frequently Asked Questions, links to other Internet-based bioterrorism resources, and a bibliography of related articles. Materials were initially made available through the organization's website in October 2001. To help evaluate whether materials were reaching the intended target audience and to assess how physicians and others used the materials for training purposes, persons accessing the slide presentation and speaker's notes were asked to provide contact information before downloading. Approximately three months after downloading the training materials, these persons were sent a brief questionnaire asking about 1) their professional background; 2) reasons for downloading the training materials; 3) how the materials had been used, particularly for training; and 4) for feedback on presentation content, format, and accessibility. This presentation will describe the process of developing and implementing the "Bioterrorism: Are You Prepared?" curriculum, as well as describe key evaluation findings and implications.

Learning Objectives: By the end of this session, participants will be able to

• Describe three ways that physicians use bioterrorism training materials accessed through the Internet; and 2)describe the challenges of distributing bioterrorism training materials to physicians through an organization-based website.

Keywords: Bioterrorism, Training

Related Web page: www.ph.ucla.edu/cphdr/

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.