Short History of IDEV and Education

 

From the very beginning one of the first missions of IDEV was the education about HIV/AIDS of health care workers and the general population. At the beginning of each morning, the medical staff at IDEV meets. The doctors are encouraged to participate and offer their opinions on new treatments, clinical trials, clinical problems, etc. 

 

Even before IDEV was founded, information about HIV/AIDS was in demand and Dr. Koenig appeared on TV programs, gave information to the newspapers and talks wherever the interest was present. Today these talks and interviews continue, not only with Dr. Koenig but also with the help of the subdirector Dr. Adón and other physicians.

 

Our first seminar took place shortly after IDEV opened its doors. A rural clinic in Nagua (a city in the north shore of the country) asked for help regarding HIV and viral hepatitis. The team rapidly divided the labor of the themes to be presented such as epidemiology, antiretrovirals, opportunistic infections, etc. A pharmaceutical company provided us with transportation. An AID project allowed the repetition of the seminar in about 15 cities and towns of the country, usually giving a general talk the evening when arriving in the town and the seminar the next day in the local hospital.  After these seminars, IDEV has always been prepared to educate health care workers about HIV/AIDS. IDEV’s physicians served as educators in the courses sponsored by CONAVIHSIDA.

 

The education of physicians and medical students from the Dominican Republic and abroad has also been part of IDEV’s programs. Residents from internal medicine and family medicine from Hospital Moscoso Puello,  internal medicine from Hospital Padre Billini and family medicine from Semma spend 1-2 months at IDEV´S facilities rotating in the institute to learn about HIV medicine and the basics related to the disease. In  this way, IDEV hopes to educate the future generation about HIV and remove the stigma associated with its treatment. Medical students and physicians from the USA, for example Columbia University, University of Massachusetts, and  Michigan State University have spent 1-2 months at IDEV shadowing the physicians and becoming familiar with the treatment of the disease in a developing country.  One of the physicians who spent time at IDEV continues to cooperate with the Institute, bringing other physicians to the site and interchanging with other personnel at IDEV.