Welcome! My name is Diane Havlir. I'm a UCSF professor and a medical doctor specializing in HIVAIDS. I serve as both the chief of the HIV/AIDS division and chair of the Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital.
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Education is truly one of the most important missions of the Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital. For the last 25 years, our commitment to training physicians and nurses in HIV care has remained at the forefront of our agenda. Some of the most widely recognized HIV clinical leaders in the world work in our program and share their expertise locally and at forums throughout the world. Our education and training effort is dynamic and always evolving to keep pace with the changing needs of the HIV epidemic.
HIV care requires specialized training in the diagnosis and management of complications associated with the disease, and for the use of the over 20 drugs designed specifically to treat the virus. Our practitioners have indepth knowledge of complex drug resistance patterns that emerge for many patients taking HIV medications. Our doctors are also experts in addressing how drug resistance can be avoided and treated when it does emerge.
Five years ago, we established an HIV Clinical Scholar's Fellowship training program designed to instruct HIV medical leaders of the future. This unique program, directed by Dr. Meg Newman, provides an intensive 1-year experience for young physicians who are committed to a career in HIV/AIDS. The fellowship offers selected junior doctors a program of rigorous technical medical training with our multi-disciplinary team. It also provides a unique opportunity to gain experience working within the public health system of HIV care in the US and in Africa. Graduates have gone on to apply this training in high impact positions in private practice, in public hospitals and in medical university settings. You can read more about this fellowship at: http://php.ucsf.edu/edu_fellowships.shtml.
Globally, the shortage of healthcare providers who are appropriately trained to deliver HIV care is still among the greatest obstacles to providing universal access to care and treatment for all people in need around the world. A recent report from the World Health Organization (2007) estimates that still today, globally, only 30% of those needing HIV care and therapy are receiving it.
One of our key international groups-AIDS Services, Prevention, Intervention, Research and Education (ASPIRE)-was established five years ago to address this unmet need for HIV medical care around the world. The ASPIRE approach is based on the premise that we need to train "trainers" in Africa, to reach out and empower local providers to increase their knowledge and capacity that, in turn, they pass on to their colleagues in the local settings. This novel program currently led by PHP Drs. Royce Lin and Oliver Bacon, is a model of how we can most efficiently address the healthcare work force shortage in Africa and how we can best establish truly sustainable care systems, rooted in local communities. Learn more about our ASPIRE International program at: http://php.ucsf.edu/intl_aspire.shtml.
Our HIV fellowship and the APSIRE program are just two of the many education programs that our division sponsors. We also have clinical rotations for students and physicians in training. Every week we host a 1-hour Grand Rounds lecture series at Carr Auditorium that is open to the public. Full details and the schedule are at: http://php.ucsf.edu/edu_grandrounds.shtml.
And, every December for 20 years, we produce the Medical Management of AIDS Conference, a 3-day seminar focused on clinical case learning, research findings and implication, and current public health HIV/AIDS issues. Full details on the most recent conference are available at: https://www.cme.ucsf.edu/cme/CourseDetail.aspx?coursenumber=MDM10K02.
Sound education-both for caregivers and for patients-is a critical component to advancing in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and ongoing enhancement of life quality for those living with HIV/AIDS everywhere. Along with our historic commitment to clinical care and research we are equally committed to a long-term focus on sharing educational knowledge that moves us forward here and abroad. Ironically, education is one of our most high impact activities, yet it is one of the most challenging to fund.
I would like to personally thank all who have contributed to our efforts. I would also invite anyone with interest to consider supporting HIV education where our investments generate huge returns in improved knowledge and improved clinical care for our patients. If you would like to learn more about how to support our HIV/AIDS education initiatives, please send an email to: info@php.ucsf.edu
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