About Us
The Kansas AIDS Education and Training Center (KAETC), along with AETCs in New Mexico, Nebraska, Utah, Colorado, the Dakotas, and Wyoming, make up the Mountain Plains (regional) AIDS Education and Training Center (MPAETC). Established in April 1988, the AETCs are funded by a grant from the Human Resource and Service Administration (HRSA), and are charged with educating health care professionals (HCP) about HIV infection, including prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and psychosocial issues. Physicians and Physician Assistants, Nurses and Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners, Dentists and Dental Hygienists, and Pharmacists are the AETCs’ target audience for these educational programs – HRSA’s “Big 7.” These programs include a combination of program methodologies, which include didactic presentations, skill building workshops, intensive clinical training, clinical consultation (both in groups or individually), and technical assistance. Among the primary topics for programs are infection control in health care settings, post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), issues around testing, counseling, and confidentiality (including the new rapid testing methods), risk assessment, current treatment protocols, health promotion and disease prevention strategies, and working with diverse cultures and ethnic populations.
Dr. Donna Sweet is the Director and Principal Investigator for the Kansas AETC. Among her numerous other positions, Dr. Sweet is also a professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine – Wichita, Chair of the Board of Regents of the American College of Physicians (ACP), and sees over 800 patients with HIV/AIDS in her Wichita Midtown clinic and outreach clinics in Garden City, Salina, and Pittsburg. When not seeing patients, Dr. Sweet speaks to groups on issues of HIV and AIDS around Kansas, the nation, and the world.
Susan Tusher, LMSW, is the Coordinator for the Kansas AETC. After many years of working directly with people living with HIV/AIDS and their families, Susan is now working to provide educational opportunities for the health care professionals that care for them.
Sheryl Kelly has been the Administrative Assistant for Dr. Sweet for over 16 years and is the Project Specialist for the KAETC. Sheryl, besides being one of the primary KAETC educators, is also responsible for developing many of the PowerPoint presentations that she and the other educators use in the educational programs.
Kathryn Thiessen, ARNP, ACRN is a nurse practitioner in practice with Dr. Sweet at the Wichita Midtown clinic. Kathryn is also one of the primary educators for the KAETC.
Steve Randall, PA is a Physician Assistant with the Sedgwick County Juvenile Detention Center, and is also a KAETC educator.
Dr. Sweet and Kathryn are board certified HIV Specialists by the American Academy of HIV Medicine. Kathryn is also an ACRN (AIDS Certified Registered Nurse) certified by ANAC (Association of Nurses in AIDS Care).
In FY2004 (July 1, 2004 – June 30, 2005) the KAETC educated 156 physicians, 23 physician assistants, 118 advanced practice nurses/nurse practitioners, 258 nurses, 27 dentists, 102 dental hygienists, and 43 pharmacists through skill building workshops, clinical trainings, or group/individual consultations. Another 54 health care professionals (US and International) were provided with formal technical assistance. Although mental health professionals (social workers, case managers, substance abuse professionals, etc.) are not one of HRSA’s “Big 7” groups, the KAETC provided educational programs, training, and technical assistance to 201 of these professionals.
Some of the challenges faced by the KAETC in the course of educating health care professionals in the state include the time and distance challenges rural providers have in trying to attend professional education programs, the feeling by some providers that HIV/AIDS doesn’t exist in rural Kansas, or that the epidemic is waning due to the drop in AIDS-related deaths.
In July 2005 (FY2005), KAETC received a special award from MPAETC to institute a new initiative: The Targeted Outreach Education Project. TOEP uses techniques taken from the traveling salesmen (face to face cold calls) and the pharmaceutical representatives (bringing lunch to the physician’s office and talking to whomever comes in to eat!) in an effort to overcome some of these obstacles to professional education. TOEP educators go into the offices of physicians, dentists, and pharmacies, and present 1 to 2 hour formal programs. The project also provides a meal and profession-specific continuing education credit – ALL FREE! These programs include discussions about the basic science and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS, updates on antiretroviral treatments, the need for routine testing, as well as the changes in testing theory and methodology. A hands on demonstration of the rapid testing process is also included. Additional aspects of TOEP are the distribution of the newest educational materials and resources on the various aspects of HIV infection, and conducting an ongoing statewide educational needs assessment.
In the first 6 weeks of the project, KAETC received over 30 requests for programs. Requests from dentists, physicians, and pharmacies have come in from small rural towns (such as Ellis, St. John, and Smith Center), as well as larger suburban sites (Topeka, Johnson County, Salina, and Wichita). An additional aspect of this project is to make “marketing stops” in the towns where programs are provided (as well as en route to these destinations). A packet of HIV-related informational materials and a “goody bag” attached to a TOEP program brochure are taken to local dental and medical offices, and to local pharmacies. As often as possible, KAETC educators spend 15 – 45 minutes talking with the providers at these sites, regarding TOEP and other HIV-related issues. The goal of this project is to bring meaningful education to the harder to reach health care providers in the state of Kansas.
Update on TOEP
In the first 6 months of TOEP, KAETC provided 20 programs for 454 providers across the state, as well as Technical Assistance for 33 more. Of those who attended programs, 344 (76%) were in HRSA’s “Big 7.” KAETC also collected 332 Educational Needs Assessment forms, showing, among other items, that Kansas health providers prefer to get their education interactively, through face-to-face programs. Other top areas of interest included basic science and epidemiology of HIV/AIDS, increased knowledge of community resources and social services, and adolescent issues with HIV. A 6-month follow up survey of all program participants showed that many health providers educated had retained most of what was presented to them, and many had put some of the information into practice. The TOEP, originally set to end June 30, 2006, will be continued for another year.