Outreach to medical schools

It was my great privilege this past March to speak, for the third year in a row, to the first-year medical students of Mount Sinai School of Medicine. My host was Physiology Professor Basil Hanss, and the students were – as always – terrific. They understood how the issues involved in DSD care mirror major issues faced throughout contemporary healthcare: providing organized integrated team care; focusing on the whole person while attending to specific medical needs; dealing with the complex psychosocial aspects of health.

Although I was not speaking as a representative of Accord Alliance, it was great to be able to point the students to Accord Alliance’s resources, including the portals our website provides and the two handbooks (clinical guidelines and parents’ handbook) available through dsdguidelines.org.

The students were interested in hearing about my experiences as a woman with a DSD. (I explained to them how my DSD arises from Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia.) They were also eager to hear about how pediatric care for DSD is evolving. I spoke about the “Chicago Consensus” from the pediatric endocrine groups (available by clicking here) and about the challenges clinicians face in implementing the model of care outlined there.

If you are at a medical school and are interested in having a representative of Accord Alliance speak at your institution, please use our contact page to be in touch.

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