www.cddh.monash.org [email protected]Maintaining the focus on people (not pathology) in health professional education in Developmental Disability Health Dr Jane Tracy Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria Monash University Melbourne Australia
16
Embed
[email protected] Maintaining the focus on people (not pathology) in health professional education in Developmental Disability.
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Academic unit within Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences – est 1998
Funding: Disability Services, Victorian State Government Department of Human Services
Mission: Improve health outcomes for adults with developmental disability by developing the capacity of generic health service systems to better meet their needs.
We wanted to: Contribute to education of all medical
undergraduates in state (~ 300) Provide professional development
opportunities for medical practitioners in state
In 2000 in Victoria there was little medical education in this area ……We saw the need but lobbying for its inclusion in medical curricula was challenging because:
Competition for teaching time in the medical course is fierce
The population of people with developmental disabilities in practice populations is relatively small
We knew as doctors we needed to do much better in meeting the complex health and social needs of people with developmental disabilities
Vulnerable population with complex health needs and poor health outcomes – More un-recognised health conditions + life expectancy 20 years less than general population
Community based population – in the past health care was based in institutions – now in community so all health professionals will see people with developmental disabilities in their practice.
We needed to listen for the ‘hot topics’ in medical education and thought about how to use them as ‘hooks’ for disability health.
Those hot topics are currently Chronic and complex disease management Interprofessional practice (effective teamwork in health care) Social inclusion, social justice and equity
• Undergraduate: medicine (5 university medical schools),
Monash Uni - Vertically integrated curriculum in disability throughout course:19 hours COMPULSORY + 6 week selective
• Undergraduate allied health and disability - paramedic, physio, social work, dental, disability studies.
• Postgraduate: medicine (GPs, psychiatrists, paediatricians), dentists, genetic counselors.
• Community Health Services: multidisciplinary healthcare teams – physio, OT, speech pathologists, podiatry, social work, psychologists, nurses, practice managers, receptionists .. and others
“ I previously knew nothing about intellectual disability & how to work with someone who has one - I felt I learnt a lot.”
“Created awareness that everyone has the same feelings, emotions… with or without a disability. I now feel more open and comfortable (I used to feel scared). Thanks!”
“The first time I have been aware of the spectrum of communication differences and how I have to tailor my communication to best fit the patient.”
“A wonderful opportunity to deal with people with disabilities who were willing to help us become more understanding doctors as well as people.”
• Over the last 5 years here have been new challenges ….
• Increasing numbers of Victorian medical students (~300 ~800)• Increasing number of medical schools in Victoria (2 5)• Increasing number of placements across the state (centralised teaching regionalised)• Increasing requests from other health professional courses for contribution to curriculum • Increasing focus on interprofessional education and practice
But we are a small Centre – limited ability to offer face to face teaching
Need for resources • Resource development: for teaching, for health professional and community education• Community engagement: supporting people with disabilities to contribute to our teaching program.