Date of Report: 05/2005
Source: Mountain Plains AETC
The Mountain Plains AETC (MPAETC) is committed to developing and presenting quality programs that result in healthcare provider behavior changes related to specific program goals. MPAETC is also aware of the inherent difficulties in assessing these outcomes and has taken the tactic of "starting small." Given this perspective, MPAETC undertook the task of assessing the effectiveness of its faculty development initiative by surveying participants in the 2nd Annual Faculty Development Conference (FDC). FDC participants were asked to complete a follow-up survey approximately three months after the conference. The survey was disseminated via email, and was limited to three questions in order to increase the response rate, and to specifically target changes in behavior and practice. Participants were asked the following three questions: 1. What new information/practices did you learn at the conference? 2. What information/practices did you pass along to colleagues upon return from the conference? 3. As a result of the conference, have you changed anything in your practice? If so, how? The majority of the respondents focused on the new clinical information or practices learned at the FDC on these topics: mental health and HIV, street drugs and antiretroviral therapy (ART), prevention with positives, primary care of HIV-infected patients, drug resistance, and the use of genotype and phenotype tests. Almost all (92%) respondents had passed information or practices along to colleagues or stated that they planned to do so at the time of completing the survey. Of these respondents, almost half replied that they had shared presentation techniques, and the remaining respondents stated they would share clinical information, including information on ART, drug resistance, and mental health. A total of 83% of respondents had changed some aspect of practice or received reinforcement for current practices since the FDC. Many reported that they became more "aware" of HIV in their practices. This awareness ranged from patient communication techniques to phenotype data. The majority of respondents indicated they had changed education and/or presentation techniques. Lesson Learned: Starting small and keeping the follow-up focused on a few measures made demonstrating outcomes a less challenging task. The MPAETC plans to document similar outcomes after the 2005 FDC and it will focus this effort on the Local Performance Site (LPS) level. The follow-up will enable each LPS to gather relevant data and will serve as a springboard for longitudinal trainings. For more information, please contact MPAETC at (303) 315-2516 or visit the website at: http://www.mpaetc.org. | 
