Recognizing the importance of education in the evolving world
of healthcare, the Women’s Health Program created the Women’s
Health Resource Center. The Center provides a number of channels
through which medical professionals and women looking for answers
to healthcare questions can get the latest information.
Deidre Maccannon, co-director with Timothy Johnson and Juliet
Rogers of U-M’s National Center of Excellence in Women’s
Health, explains that the “Women’s Health Resource
Center can be accessed by coming to the Center, by phoning in,
or by dialing in on-line. We get some 2,000 inquiries a month,
and a large number of those are on-line.
“A woman can call and ask a question about anything. She
might have just seen a provider and was told she had a particular
condition and wants to be sure that she’s aware of all
her treatment options beyond what that practitioner told her.
Or maybe she read something in the newspaper and wants to know
if she has it. Maybe she’ll just want more specific information
about a condition. She can ask the professionals and volunteers
at the Resource Center any question she has and get specific
information.”
Women can also attend events such as Women’s Health Night
Out and the Annual Women’s Health Day. In short, the Resource
Center is a woman’s link to information — and to people
who are genuinely concerned about her healthcare.
Gender-specific education for healthcare professionals has
also become a concern for the Women’s Health Program. To
address this, the Program reviewed and revised the Medical School’s
curricula, and offers opportunities for continuing medical education
that focuses on women and women’s health issues. For instance,
physicians and nurses can attend lunchtime seminars about community
resources, screening tools and diagnostic tools. They have access
to a manual that the Program created to educate healthcare professionals
about working with people who are in potentially dangerous situations.
“One of our jobs,” according to Tim Johnson, “is
to take people and transform them, then send them out to make
a difference. We’re training people at this Medical School
to make a difference. People see what’s going on here.
They see this Health System transforming, and they suddenly
realize that they can go back where they came from, take what’s
taken us five or six years to change, and then they can change
things much more quickly where they are. Whether it’s delivering
babies in comfortable rooms, or delivering babies underwater.
All of these things are markers for social and cultural change.”
“It’s an ongoing process,” Juliet Rogers adds.
“It won’t be finished for who-knows-how-long.”
Also:
Bitter Pills The Long Struggle To Achieve
Equality In Women's Healthcare
Ten Ways Gender Differences Can Affect
Health
The Women’s Health Program: Making
A Differences Through Education and Information
Lydia Pinkham had company in pioneering
improvements in women’s health
The Women’s Health Registry
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