Michigan Department of Community Health Director James K. Haveman, Jr., today announced that the "Innovations in Health Professions Education" conference will be held Tuesday, April 13, 1999 at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Lansing. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. and the conference runs from 9:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m.

The "Innovations in Graduate Health Professions Education Project," funded by the Department of Community Health, has enabled seven graduate medical education consortia and one graduate nursing education consortium, to devise and test new ways of educating residents and nurses over a three year period. The graduate nursing education consortium is funded by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. This symposium is an opportunity for the Projects to share their innovations with legislators and community leaders.

"This conference is a wonderful opportunity for those educating health professionals to share their ideas and emerging new methods so students are prepared to practice in tomorrow’s health care environment," said Haveman.

Innovations focus primarily on two topics: preparing doctors and nurses to practice in managed care settings, and preparing them to care for patients who are indigent or medically underserved, such as Medicaid beneficiaries. "This project has created a real opportunity for Michigan’s medical and nursing schools to reconsider their teaching methods and test innovations," said Haveman. "It has created a forum for schools to collaborate, compare notes, and make substantive changes in the ways doctors and nurses are trained."

Consortia funded by the project and participating in the symposium include:

The Michigan Public Health Institute provides evaluation and technical assistance to all project participants. The agenda for the conference includes: