Featured Clinical Consultant: Jason Tokumoto, MD

Date of Report: 09/2010
Source: National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center

Jason Tokumoto, MD, eleven-year veteran clinical consultant at the National HIV/AIDS Clinicians' Consultation Center (NCCC), decided on HIV medicine as a resident at the VA Martinez Hospital in the 1990s. There, he came to understand the challenges and disparities in the field as he developed a long relationship with an African American woman dying from AIDS without benefit of ARV therapy or real support. He now trains clinicians on competent and compassionate care, as a daily consultant on the NCCC's Warmline, PEPline, and Perinatal HIV Hotlines and as a writer and speaker on complimentary and alternative medicine in HIV. Jason, an Associate Physician at the University of California, San Francisco, precepts first- and second-year medical students in the PRIME-US program, a program for those interested in working with the urban underserved. He also serves as a regular provider at San Francisco's Native American Health Clinic, where his background in minority and underserved populations helps him manage both HIV and its resultant stigma in the nation's third-largest HIV-affected population. Jason has created courses on HIV end-of-life care and written three courses on complimentary medicine for the AETCs. In San Francisco, Jason founded Inner Circle, a non-profit organization that provides spiritual support for people infected and affected by HIV.

As NCCC's Clinical Coordinator, Jason oversees training of new clinical consultants for the national hotlines, which provide free consultation for healthcare workers on the management of HIV and blood-borne pathogen exposures. A close familiarity with the most current federal guidelines is the initial tool he urges consultants to adopt. But it is not enough for a consultant to be up-to-date on HIV information and consultation techniques. The cornerstone of good consultation -- of which Jason has provided more than 10,000 at the NCCC -- is respect. "We get callers who might be managing their first HIV patient and callers who are managing over 100 HIV patients. The most important consideration is respect and to meet them where they're at with regard to HIV knowledge and experience." he said.

Jason Tokumoto's Training Tips and Tools

Dr. Tokumoto's top five resources for providing great clinical consultation on HIV: United States Department of Health and Human Services' latest guidelines on antiretroviral therapy. The key resource for those managing HIV patients. CDC/NIH/IDSA guidelines on opportunistic infection prevention and treatment. A favorite annually attended conference: the local International AIDS Society meeting, which covers state-of-the-art topics and is very clinically oriented. Top four clinical websites: Medscape.com (HIV/AIDS); ClinicalCareOptions.com; IASUSA.org; MDlinx.com/infectious-disease. These four websites provide highlights and up-to-date, often case-based information from pertinent conferences, journals, and textbooks. Colleagues (including those within the NCCC, other AETCs, and other providers in the local area). On a challenging case, well-rounded input is highly important and valued.