Departments
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Week of 5 September 1997 |
Vol. I, No. 1 |
Feature Article
BUSM to set up cancer training institute
Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) has been awarded a $500,000 grant to establish and run a statewide Breast and Cervical Cancer Training Institute. Funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), the institute will provide a broad range of continuing education programs for clinicians, allied health professionals, and outreach workers on the topics of early detection and prevention of breast and cervical cancer.
The five-year grant will promote high levels of professional involvement in cancer screening and in improving clinical expertise, as called for in a 1995 report released by the MDPH, says principal investigator Karen Freund, BUSM associate professor of medicine.
That report outlined three professional education challenges for health service providers: to encourage professionals to promote or perform breast and cervical cancer screening tests at appropriate intervals; to ensure that screening procedures are performed with clinical skill and accuracy; and to provide clinicians with the knowledge and skills to appropriately manage the follow-up of abnormal clinical findings.
"It is an honor to receive this grant," says Freund. "Not only does it recognize the importance of early detection and annual screenings for breast and cervical cancer, but it distinguishes BUSM as a leader in better educating and training health-care professionals."
The institute is a component of the Massachusetts Breast and Cervical Cancer Initiative, the comprehensive statewide program offering free health services for low-income or uninsured women in Massachusetts over age 40.