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Education for Medical Professionals Institute for Families provides nationwide in-service training for physicians, residents, medical students, nurses, and other health care workers. The goal is to enhance their understanding of issues facing families and to improve communication. A physician has the difficult task of breaking the news to a family about their child's serious diagnosis. Although most doctors want to provide emotional help and support, few have received the necessary preparation in medical school. We educate physicians and other health care professionals about the impact of a child's disability on all family members. Institute for Families consults with hospital administrators and others interested in improving family care. Throughout the United States and Canada, members of our staff have been invited to speak at numerous professional symposiums and conventions and have lectured to physicians in our areas of expertise. In addition, we have produced numerous articles in medical journals. These articles explain to physicians the impact the diagnosis of blindness has on parents. We have also written about the role of the physician in communicating a serious diagnosis. Our most recent chapter appears in Pediatric Opthalmology and Strabismus, a leading opthalmology textbook, instructing physicians on the most useful way to present a catastrophic diagnosis and to help them to understand what happens to a family when they hear this news. |