Physician Educational Modules

Pain occurs in 65-85% of patients with advanced cancer, and many of those rate the pain as “severe” in their last week of life. This course was developed to teach physicians the basic principles of pain management, including prescribing sufficient doses to manage severe pain and side effects.

Upon successful completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Recognize how cultural beliefs and attitudes can affect the medical care we provide.
• Be able to identify when our own cultural beliefs and attitudes are influencing our perceptions and therefore our medical care. 
• Recognize that the medical system itself is a culture that influences the ways in which we interact with our patients and their families.

Dementia often goes undiagnosed, and when diagnosed, physicians do not always recommend the most appropriate treatment options. This educational module was developed to address the need for improved training for physicians and other healthcare professionals in diagnosing and treating dementia.

Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the most important behavioral measure in managing dementia
• Describe three common medication mistakes in managing agitation 
• Recognize when to refer a patient with dementia to hospice.

Dyspnea is a common symptom in the advanced stages of many diseases, and causes much suffering. Yet physicians are seldom explicitly taught palliative (non-curative) methods of relieving dyspnea. This module was developed to teach physicians how to identify dyspnea and how to manage it with medications and non-pharmacologic interventions.

Upon successful completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Define dyspnea and describe assessment of this symptom.
• Describe use of medications to manage dyspnea. 
• Identify five non-pharmacologic interventions to manage dyspnea. 
• Recognize admission criteria to hospice for patients with pulmonary disease.

Cultural competency, or the ability to recognize the ways in which various cultures interact and sometimes conflict, is essential in order to provide good medical care. This course was developed to teach physicians to be aware of their patients’ cultural behaviors, as well as their own biases and emotional responses, thereby allowing them to provide more effective medical care.  This course contains several video clips. A high speed connection is recommended for optimal viewing.  

Upon successful completion of this course, participants should be able to:

• Recognize how cultural beliefs and attitudes can affect the medical care we provide.
• Be able to identify when our own cultural beliefs and attitudes are influencing our perceptions and therefore our medical care. 
• Recognize that the medical system itself is a culture that influences the ways in which we interact with our patients and their families.

Windows-based PC:

• Internet Explorer Version 5 or higher
• Mozilla Firefox Version 1.5 
• Netscape Navigator Version 7.1 
• AOL Version 9 
• Flash Player Version 8 or higher*

Mac-based PC:

•  Safari Version 1.1 or higher
•  Mozilla Firefox Version 1.5 
• Flash Player Version 8 or higher*