Spotlight on Provider Education

In cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The CFIDS Association of America held the first of two Dallas, TX-based Train-the-Trainer Workshops July 25-27, 2003 .

“Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS): Diagnosis & Management” is designed to teach health care providers how to better recognize and manage the illness.

The July workshop was led by master trainers and respected CFS experts, Drs. Leonard Jason of DePaul University and Charles Lapp of the Hunter-Hopkins Clinic, who presented the curriculum during an intensive two-day session. They engaged participants through group discussions, lectures, case studies and decision-making models.

Workshop participants represented a variety of disciplines, providing new perspectives and differing approaches to management issues. Post-course evaluations found that attendees rated the validity of CFS and their understanding of the illness one to two points higher after the workshop. Following the workshop, one attendee remarked, “I have been to numerous trainings over the years. This was the first time I received the resources and materials necessary to make an effective presentation of my own.”

Train-the-Trainer workshops are offered free of charge to primary care health care professionals interested in learning more about CFS. Participants completing the workshop are referred to as Core Trainers. Core trainers then act as messengers, teaching colleagues and students about CFS through various mechanisms including medical association meetings and grand rounds.

If you are a primary care provider interested in expanding your general knowledge of CFS and would like to attend Train-the-Trainer on September 12-14, 2003, you can request information and an application by contacting The CFIDS Association of America at 704-364-0046 or by sending an e-mail to meded@cfids.org. Continuing education credits are offered free of charge based on 12.75 hours of instruction through the CDC, an accredited provider of continuing education credits for various professions.