New Global Child Health curriculum announced in Canada

Health experts identify gap in medical trainee programs

2011-11-22

(Press-News.org) OTTAWA -- Globalization has led to significant changes in the health care of children worldwide, yet medical education in the developed world has remained domestically focused. Canadian pediatricians are caring for growing numbers of new immigrants, refugees and international adoptees, so their formal training should reflect these changes. Now medical trainees in Canada don't have to go abroad to improve cultural competency and expand their global health education.

With support from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), a national team of global child health (GCH) experts working through the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS) is the first to create a series of evidence-based educational modules to address a foundational learning gap for residents, pediatricians and health care institutions. The modules are now available in both official languages from the CPS, and include the following key topics: global child mortality, under-nutrition, fever in the returned child traveler, and refugee and immigrant health. The curriculum will be presented today at a luncheon with Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, and the Honourable Beverley Oda, Minister of International Cooperation, and the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health.

"Today's announcement is the accumulation of five years work, and the uptake of the modules across Canada has been amazing to watch. It's rewarding to see our research efforts put into practice," said Dr. Jennifer Brenner, a pediatrician at Calgary's Alberta Children's Hospital and principal investigator of this GCH research program. "Canada is in position to lead other developed nations by example, for tackling GCH at the residency level and influencing the practice of its future pediatricians and physicians."

The curriculum is intended for all medical trainees, including those who have no intention of participating in an overseas elective or working outside of Canada. The program objectives were mapped to the existing Canadian core competencies in pediatrics set out by the RCPSC, the national professional association that oversees the medical education of specialists in Canada. Its contents include numerous references, statistics and schematics from the World Health Organization.

"The curriculum can be used by other disciplines that care for children. For example, we've already had requests for the modules from family medicine and internal medicine," explained Dr. Tobey Audcent, pediatrician and research project coordinator based at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and executive member of the Canadian Paediatric Society Global Child and Youth Health section.

"What sets our program apart is that it's evidence-based and very interactive; which the program directors and residents particularly enjoyed at our study sites," said Dr. Heather MacDonnell, director of Global Child Health, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, project curriculum lead. "We had investigators at eight pediatric training sites in Canada working on developing this content. We all couldn't be happier knowing that this curriculum will make such a positive impact on the Canadian health care community!"

###For more information about the Curriculum Working Group and its members, visit: http://www.cps.ca/english/membership/Sections/GCYH/Background.htm

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Taking bushmeat off the menu could increase child anemia, study finds

2011-11-22

Berkeley -- A new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, finds that consuming bushmeat had a positive effect on children's nutrition, raising complex questions about the trade-offs between human health and environmental conservation. They further estimated that a loss of access to wildlife as a source of food – either through stricter enforcement of conservation laws or depletion of resources – would lead to a 29 percent jump in the number of children suffering from anemia. Among children in the poorest households, the researchers added, there ...

Spectacular Pro/Am Dance Showcase with US National Champion

2011-11-22

Classic Ballroom, sexy Latin, smooth Foxtrot, Hip Hop, Contemporary and sizzling Belly Dancing.....all under the lights of the Strom Auditorium (25 Keelson Drive, Rt. 90, Rockport, Maine) on Sunday, December 4, 2011 at 2:00 PM. Professional costuming and many performances by solo performers, couples and choreographed groups of all ages. Dancing by the audience before the showcase and during intermission. Concessions by Atlantic Baking Company in Rockland. Fun for all ages!Tickets just $12 in advance or $15 at the door. Call 207-594-0940 or visit http://www.swingnsway.com ...

Hidden hunger from wildlife loss

2011-11-22

How do you balance the need for biodiversity conservation and human health? For Christopher Golden, '05, a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Harvard University Center for the Environment, that question is at the core of a paper he authored which found that, in societies where people rely on "bushmeat" for important micro-nutrients, lost access to wildlife, arising either from strict conservation enforcement or unsustainable harvesting, could translate into negative impacts on the health of children. Published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ...

Flexible Handheld RFID Reader/Mobile Computer

2011-11-22

GAO RFID Asset Tracking (www.GAORFIDAssetTracking.com) is offering this flexible handheld computer terminal which is an ideal choice as an RFID reader and has been proven successful in a number of applications including asset tracking, livestock tracking, warehousing and manufacturing. This handheld RFID reader, model 246005, offers full VGA color for crisp, detailed graphics even under direct sunlight. The RFID reader is available with both full keyboard and short keypad varieties with an option of either Microsoft Embedded CE 5.0 or Windows Mobile 6 classic operating ...

Neiker-Tecnalia report that noise pollution reduces the presence of songbirds in cities

2011-11-22

A study by the University of the Americas (Universidad de la Américas Puebla) in Mexico and the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development, Neiker-Tecnalia, highlights the fact that noise pollution has negative effects on songbirds in cities. The field work, carried out in urban parks in the Metropolitan Area of Puebla-Cholula (Mexico), reveals that the green zones most affected by noise have less bird species. Among the birds better adapted to urban conditions are various species of finches, sparrows and thrushes. The authors of the study say that noise ...

Laser heating -- new light cast on electrons heated to several billion degrees

2011-11-22

A new class of high power lasers can effectively accelerate particles like electrons and ions with very intense, short laser pulses. This has attracted the interest of researchers around the globe, working out the details of the acceleration process which occurs when a laser beam impinges on a thin foil to accelerate ions from the foil's rear surface to high energies. The electrons in the foil are heated by the laser pulse, thereby gaining energy. These electrons in turn give part of their energy to the ions, thereby converting laser pulse energy to ion energy. Physicists ...

The Style of the RTA Cabinets Los Angeles Services

2011-11-22

When talking about this diversity one example comes to mind: the RTA cabinets Los Angeles services and how are they satisfying their customers. The fact that their portfolio is so diverse talks about how they wish to be seen in their market. One of the policies that the http://www.cabinetsense.com/cabinets/index.php website brings forth is the idea of matching the style of the house. There are many different approaches when it comes to a home and the harmony of the rooms need to fit together in order to be seen as a whole rather than something separate. That is the main ...

Vive Lou Vega

2011-11-22

Hip-hop artist Lou Vega makes his official debut to the music scene with his Vive Lou Vega mixtape. Executive produced by Pop Luciano and Lou Vega this mixtape is being released through the independent label Buck50 Entertainment. Featuring works such as 28 Grams, Bologna and The Rulez, Vive Lou Vega, is being hailed as a street anthem mixtape, one not to be missed. Following the successful feature on and garnering over 4,000 downloads of The Hoodpromo TV Mixtape presented by DJ L-Gee and Hoopdpromo.com Lou Vega saw his opportunity to get his music out to his new fan ...

A better way to count molecules discovered

2011-11-22

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have developed a new method for counting molecules. Quantifying the amounts of different kinds of RNA and DNA molecules is a fundamental task in molecular biology as these molecules store and transfer the genetic information in cells. Thus, improved measurement techniques are crucial for understanding both normal and cancer cells. It is very difficult to detect small individual molecules in a complex mixture. Therefore, the signal is usually first amplified by making many copies of each molecule. Unfortunately, ...

South Asian patients require 3 times as much repeat angioplasty as white Europeans

2011-11-22

South Asian patients with coronary artery disease were almost three times as likely to be readmitted to hospital for further interventional treatment to arterial plaque than their White European counterparts, according to research in the December issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice. They were also more likely to present as an emergency and require urgent treatment. Researchers carried out a five-year follow-up study of 1,158 patients who had received percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) at a UK hospital, comparing 293 South Asians and 865 ...

New Global Child Health curriculum announced in Canada

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: