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Date of Report: 02/2004
Source: Mountain Plains AETC
In 1997, the Mountain Plains AIDS Education and Training Center (MPAETC) received a Special Projects of National Significance
(SPNS) grant to study various ways to teach healthcare providers in rural areas about HIV infection. This is an important issue for
the Mountain Plains region that stretches from Canada to Mexico covering eight states and encompassing 707,866 square miles or 20%
of the total US land mass. The area is predominantly rural with numbers of people per square mile ranging from 5.1 in Wyoming to
41.5 in Colorado, compared to a national average of 79.6.
The SPNS study explored efficient and effective means of getting HIV information into sparsely populated areas. One arm of the
study developed a self-study module to compare with both face-to-face and distance-based education programs. The original module,
HIV/AIDS Prevention, Early Intervention, and Health Promotion: A Self-Study Module for Rural Health Care Providers was case-based,
included study questions, and CE-approved evaluations and post-tests. Feedback from the study indicated that this format was
efficient and effective for busy care providers in the region. The MPAETC revised and reprinted the module five times over six
years and set a pattern for the development of additional modules by the region.
In November 2000, the MPAETC published Preventing Perinatal Transmission of HIV Infection: A Self-Study Module for Health Care
Clinicians, the first targeted module. This was followed in 2001 by HIV/AIDS Prevention, Early Intervention, and Health Promotion:
A Self- Study Module for Health Care Providers serving Native Americans, which served as a base for the MPAETC collaboration with
the National Native American AIDS Prevention Center. In 2003, another self-study module on Risk Assessment was developed for a
research project comparing self-study, interactive classes, and standardized patient feedback. The Risk Assessment module has been
incorporated into a training platform to help educators address this important topic. Also in 2003, MPAETC published HIV/AIDS in
Dental Care: A Case- Based Self-Study Module for Dental Health Care Personnel, printed with full color pictures of clinical
pathologies associated with case studies. It used a new "uncover" printed technology to create a more interactive relationship with
the learner.
The newest MPAETC self-study strategy is a CD-ROM that is more interactive and uses computer-based technologies. This self-study
module for Primary Care Clinicians, to be distributed early this year, includes 15 interactive case studies, video clips, slides,
and an animation of the viral replication cycle.
The evolution of the self-study modules reflects the ongoing commitment of the MPAETC to creatively respond to emerging regional
needs.
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