The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #67607

Vikrant Sahasrabuddhe, MBBS, MPH¹, Sushena Reza-Paul, MBBS, DrPH², Daksha Pandit, MD³, Hemangi Jerajani, MD³, S Sundararaman, MD, MRCP⁴, and Sten Vermund, MD, PhD⁵. (1) Department of Epidemiology and International Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Boulevard RPHB 430, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022, 205-305-9172, vikrant@uab.edu, (2) UAB-Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program, UAB-India Program, Mumbai, India, (3) LTMMC and Sion Hospital, Sion, Mumbai, India, (4) AIDS Research Foundation of India, T.Nagar, Chennai, India, (5) Sparkman Center for International Public Health Education, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1665 University Boulevard RPHB 437, Birmingham, AL 35294-0022

As a step towards sensitizing and training young medical graduates undertaking internships and residencies to adopt a more rational, sympathetic and scientific view in management and care of HIV-infected patients, a training workshop was conducted in Mumbai, India in the summer of 2002. Sixty young physicians (interns and residents of a public-sector hospital) were trained using a participatory, exploratory, introspective training approach by a specialized faculty with skills in interactive training. The methods included conventional lecture-discussions, group work, role-plays and clinical fieldwork. A pre-training assessment had brought forth the inadequacy of physicians in dealing with HIV, the need for understanding hands-on aspects of care giving and the necessity to move beyond clinical aspects to attitudinal issues. Post-training assessment revealed that participants acquired new knowledge, had addressed personal attitudes towards HIV and had imbibed sensitivity in rationalized care giving for HIV-infected patients. It has also highlighted the need to provide continuing education in theory and clinical aspects of HIV care-giving with a stress on processes that will help in overcoming personal prejudices. The exercise has helped in developing a conceptual framework both for methodology and content in delivering specialized training to HIV care givers. Advocacy with educational policy makers is bound to bring about a curriculum change in imparting crucial training to budding health care providers not only in Mumbai city but also in the state of Maharashtra and the nation at large. This will produce an environment of better care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the session the participants will have
• Understood the need for physicians to adopt rationality and sensitivity in care-giving for HIV infected people in India.
• Identified the appropriate methodologies to impart training in attitude and skill building which can produce desired outcomes.
• Assimilated the prospect for scaling such training activities and mainstreaming within the curriculum currently in vogue for training of health care providers.

Keywords: HIV/AIDS, Training

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.