Women's Health Care Competencies for Medical Students
 APGO

Women's Healthcare Education Office (WHEO)
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For more than a decade, concern over the health care received by women has been voiced by the government, advocacy groups and, of course, the public. As a result, women's health curricula in medical schools, residency programs and continuing medical education programs are being carefully reviewed. The Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO), an academic medicine organization dedicated to women's health care education and faculty development at the undergraduate medical school level, responded by addressing medical school curricula in women's health within the obstetric and gynecologic clerkship. But, to truly address gaps and duplications in women's health care training in medical school, communication among disciplines is required.

In September 1996, APGO hosted the Interdisciplinary Women's Health Education Conference in Chantilly, VA. This unprecedented conference was convened to bring together leaders in undergraduate medical education whose interest was to develop interdisciplinary women's health care curriculum. Representatives from Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Surgery, and Obstetrics and Gynecology, as well as national women's health care organizations, gathered and discovered that an interdisciplinary approach fosters quality medical education in women's health.

The APGO Women's Healthcare Education Office (WHEO) was conceived from this historic APGO interdisciplinary conference and instituted in October 1997. WHEO is dedicated to integrating women's health care into the undergraduate medical school curricula by leading a collaborative interdisciplinary effort.

In 1998, WHEO formed a special interest group under the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Group on Educational Affairs (GEA). A specific objective of the APGO Women's Healthcare Education Office (WHEO) is to coordinate this Special Interest Group. Its first meeting was held in November 1998 during the AAMC Annual Meeting and it has been meeting every year since then. The institution of the Interdisciplinary Women's Health Care Education (IWHCE) SIG arose through the collaborative efforts of several organizations including the Alliance for Clinical Education (ACE), the American Medical Women's Association (AMWA), the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics (APGO) and the National Academy on Women's Health Medical Education (NAWHME). The purpose of the IWHCE SIG is to promote interdisciplinary curricular development and implementation in undergraduate women's health care education.

WHEO developed the Women's Healthcare Education Resource Network on the APGO Web site. The Resource Network displays institutional models of women's health curricula, as well as appropriate links to women's health care organizations and resources related to women's health care education. The purpose of the Resource Network is to provide members, as well as others interested in women's health care education, access to information on specific models, including integrated models, separate courses, both, or any other innovative curriculum that an institution has put into place to incorporate women's health. The Resource Network acts as a clearinghouse of sample curricula for other institutions and individuals to apply to their own programs. It is designed for individuals, academic institutions and organizations interested in women's health care education and training at the undergraduate medical school level.

For more information about WHEO, please go to http://www.apgo.org/wheo.