Mautner launches
online training for medical professionals

The Mautner Project, a national lesbian health organization, has launched the first-ever national online training curriculum that specifically addresses the unique health concerns of lesbian patients for medical and health care professionals. The "Removing the Barriers" online course is an introduction to the key concepts of providing culturally competent, quality care to women who partner with women.

The accredited online training is an overview of the more intensive training sessions that the Mautner Project has been conducting for over 10 years. Along with the online version, the experiential on-site "Removing the Barriers" training sessions will continue in various workshop formats ranging from two hours to a full day. The online training allows the health care providers to take session at their convenience while receiving two hours of continuing education credit.

"Competent health care delivery depends on a health care professional's ability to look beyond the obvious aspects of a patient's physical appearance and to be sensitive to cultural factors that may influence a patient's attitudes and behaviors," William E. Gannon Jr., MD, a Mautner Project board member and the agency's medical advisor, says in a press statement. "Cultural awareness is especially important to lesbian patients who face barriers because of their sexual orientation. Many lesbians fear bias based on previous personal experiences with physicians or on the experiences of their friends or loved ones."

The Mautner Project has conducted on-site training session for more than 4,000 health care professionals across the country and in Canada. To date, training sessions have taken place in hospitals; clinics; professional schools, including medicine, nursing, and social work; professional conferences; and at 53 breast and cervical cancer early detection programs.

In addition to the launch of the new online course, Mautner's training sessions are currently being initiated at elder-care facilities and fertility clinics.

For more information about the online training program call (202) 332-5536 or go online to www.mautnerproject.org. (The Advocate)