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Date:  Tuesday, October 24, 1995
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts: PHS Office on Women's Health
                Elena Rios,  M.D., 
		Teddi Fine, M.A. (202) 690-8554
	  PHS Office of Minority Health
                Guadalupe Pacheco (301) 443-5084

PHS Conference to Promote Cultural
Competence and Women's Health

Curricula in Medical Education

On October 26-28, 1995, deans and faculty of medical schools and residency training programs join with federal experts and representatives of health organizations to chart a new course for medical education that promotes cultural competence for diverse populations and sensitivity to the unique health care needs of women.

Susan J. Blumenthal, M.D., M.P.A., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Women's Health, and Clay Simpson, Jr., Ph.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Minority Health will convene a two-day conference in Washington, D.C. on model curricula in cultural competence and women's health, spanning undergraduate and graduate medical education, faculty development and continuing medical education.

The conference is designed to forge complementary federal and private sector policies and programs to promote culturally competent women's health curricula models in medical education settings.

"Women comprise 51 percent of the United States population and make 70 percent of the health care decisions, but their health needs have been neglected in medical education. The U.S. Public Health Service's Office on Women's Health is committed to rectifying the inequities in women's health care." said Dr. Blumenthal. "A critical component in this effort is to change the way health care professionals are educated. This landmark conference provides an important opportunity to influence the training of health care professionals today and tomorrow, by promoting health care that is sensitive to gender differences in diverse populations."

"There are 68 million minority men, women, and children and more than 130 million women of all races in the United States," Dr. Simpson said. "We need to design medical education so that its graduates consistently deliver health services in a manner appropriate to these populations. The Office of Minority Health is pleased to provide a forum for medical educators committed to this effort."

The Public Health Service's Office on Women's Health and the Office of Minority Health are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Medical experts from around the country will convene for the conference at the Hotel Washington, Washington D.C. on October 26-28, 1995. The opening plenary session --Changing Medical Education for the 21st Century -- will feature Herbert Pardes, M.D., President of the Association of American Medical Colleges and Dean of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, and Henry Foster, M.D., Meharry School of Medicine. Jo Ivey Boufford, M.D., Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health, is the featured speaker at the Saturday luncheon.

The conference will produce specific recommendations for action by federal and state health agencies, by medical schools and residency training programs, by health professional associations, and medical examining, licensing and accrediting agencies. These recommendations will address how to integrate cultural competence and women's health content into health care professional training curricula today for healthier women's futures tomorrow.

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