Women’s Healthcare addresses conditions that are unique to women, different in women, or more common among women. Health conditions in women can differ from those in men in terms of risk factors, presenting symptoms, and treatment outcomes. Unfortunately, these differences are not consistently included in the education of healthcare professionals, often negatively impacting the health of women. A new international collaboration, I-GLOWe (Improving International Global Women’s Health through Online Education), sponsored by a grant from the Gates Foundation, aims to affect positive changes in women’s health by improving education through a global approach with local impact.
I-GLOWe plans to improve care for women by developing, curating, and adapting an on-line library of teaching materials that will be made available free of charge for those in the health professions, encompassing all types and levels of learners, and for those developing health curricular materials. Three champions of improving education in this area to address the health needs of women received the funding and will lead a team of specialists in creating an on-line repository of teaching materials: Kimberly Templeton, MD of the University of Kansas Medical Center and past president of the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) is the principal investigator, Deborah Gomez Kwolek, MD from Harvard Medical School and current chair of the AMWA Sex and Gender Health Collaborative will head the United States team, and Eleanor Nwadinobi, MBBS, President of the Medical Women’s International Association will spearhead international efforts.
“Differences between women and men have been found in every health condition, not only reproductive health, for which the impact of sex has been investigated. However, these differences are not consistently being taught to those in the health professions, often negatively impacting patient care,” notes Templeton. Kwolek adds that “women’s health education is the key to uplifting the health and wellness of all patients, as women are the keepers, promoters and caregivers of health for their families and communities.” Online resources, developed in collaboration with an international advisory board, will address such topics as menopause, diabetes, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and heart disease with attention paid to the specific needs of women.
Nwadinobi advocates for multi-stakeholder collaboration in the training of healthcare professionals and development of treatment protocols to achieve equity in healthcare, especially for conditions that affects women differently, disproportionately, and uniquely. This project will provide the tools, contextualized to each country/region involved, to move the results of sex-specific research immediately to bedside care.
“Advancing knowledge of sex and gender differences is essential to improving women’s health, and the American Medical Women’s Association is excited to be part of the I-GLOWe program working toward that goal,” says Eliza Chin, MD, MPH, AMWA Executive Director.