Featured AETC Trainer: Douglas Fish, MD

Date of Report: 04/2009
Source: New York/New Jersey AETC

Douglas Fish, MD is one of the New York/New Jersey AETC's lead correctional trainers. He is Medical Director of the AIDS Treatment Center at Albany Medical Center, Division Head of the Division of HIV Medicine, and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Albany Medical College (AMC). AMC is the upstate NY local performance site for the NY/NJ AETC and its HIV Correctional Regional Resource Center (RRC).

In addition to being an active HIV educator in non-correctional settings, a significant part of Dr. Fish's clinical and educational responsibilities is within NY correctional facilities, which detain the largest number of HIV-infected inmates nationally. Dr. Fish and his faculty members staff approximately 15 HIV specialty clinics per month at Coxsackie Regional Medical Unit, which serves inmates in 24 facilities in upstate, NY. He is also the Course Director for clinical educational programs targeting providers at Riker's Island and correctional facilities in NJ.

Because the majority of correctional facilities are concentrated in rural areas, and many providers are challenged to leave their facilities for educational events, Dr. Fish and his team strive to develop educational opportunities that are brought directly to their facilities. To this end, AMC coordinates four telemedicine series annually that are discipline- and topic-specific, as well as provides a variety of self-study resources.

Dr. Fish coordinates quarterly HIV education planning meetings with the Deputy Commissioner of Health Services in the NYS Department of Correctional Services to learn of training priorities, which supplement AMC's regional needs assessment efforts. These meetings have also served as the catalyst for AMC's development of several inmate/peer educational videotapes and a system-wide health education newsletter for incarcerated patients.

AMC believes that in order to reach the majority of correctional health providers, it is vital to make education available in an array of formats to accommodate learning preferences. Some clinicians will watch telemedicine events regularly, while others prefer education at their own pace and request self-study materials. The following are some of AMC's RRC for Corrections most successful approaches to reach correctional providers:

	Telemedicine: Traditionally utilized in correctional facilities to reduce costs associated with linking incarcerated patients to outside specialty care, AMC uses this modality to implement case-based, accredited HIV telemedicine series for prescribers, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists. Providers can bring their own patient cases to this forum, and multiple providers from other facilities can benefit at the same time.
	Satellite Videoconferences and Webcasts: The "Management of HIV/AIDS in the Correctional and Community Setting" satellite videoconference and webcast series has reached 40 states and the federal prison system and more than 11,000 participants over the years. Accredited videotapes and DVDs are distributed to all county, city, state and federal correctional facilities in NY and NJ for staff unable to watch the live event.
	Correctional Monographs: AMC has developed an accredited, self-study series to provide correctional nurses with the basic knowledge needed to provide comprehensive care to HIV-infected inmates. Based on its success, AMC has also developed a series for correctional prescribing clinicians, as well.