Academy Q & A

Question: Will the number of medical-care providers serving HIV patients decrease as a result of an HIV-care specialty being created?

Answer: Probably not, since easily accessed learning and self-assessment tools -- like those being developed by the Academy -- should not only encourage clinicians to enter the field but also make it easier for them to keep up with new and changing treatment protocols.

As a result of more effective medications, combined with the steady rate of new infections, the number of HIV patients is actually increasing while the capacity to provide medical care to them is decreasing. Developing a process to determine educational objectives for HIV medical specialists -- and how they can best meet these objectives -- will help close this service gap.

Question: Is the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) writing a board examination?

Answer: No, what the Academy is doing is creating a short self-assessment tool, along with a study guide, from a list of approximately 400 Learning Objectives already assembled by AAHIVM's Core Curriculum Committee. They too will be updated yearly and weighted toward learning objectives that are new each year.

Back to The Nexus April/May 2001 contents page.