In 2003, WWHF launched a series of lunch hour presentations for students at the University of Wisconsin - School of Medicine & Public Health to address women’s health concerns and conditions that disproportionately affect women. Seminars emphasize cultural competency in patient relations and raise awareness about the availability of public health and social services women’s health resources in Wisconsin.
Topics include:
- “Why Women’s Health?”: Panel discussion including perspectives on gender differences in medical research, women’s health within public health and the importance of women in the health of families.
- Domestic Violence Clinician Training: Hands-on training teaching students how to incorporate screening for domestic violence into their medical history techniques including survivor stories by local women. Presented in partnership with the Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
- Smoking Cessation Counseling Training: Training on smoking cessation counseling including complimentary cessation guides and other resources to use with patients.
- Insurance Basics and Publicly-Funded Programs: Overview of Medicaid, Medicare, Badgercare and private insurance systems in Wisconsin, as well as other publicly funded programs including the Well Woman Program, Birth to 3 and Healthy Start.
- Cultural Competency: Overview of cultural competency issues in medical practice including improving awareness about personal biases and instructions on how to work towards cultural competence.
- Cardiovascular Disease, Hormone Replacement Therapy, and Gender Differences: Overview of gender differences in cardiovascular disease symptoms, treatment and diagnosis with presentation of recent scientific findings regarding HRT. Includes information about the Badger Heart Program and the Women’s Health Initiative.
- Mental Health/Illness in Women: Overview of mental illness as real, common and treatable which addresses anti-stigma issues, as well as the growing elderly female population and related concerns.
