JAMA
December 2022
Importance: Low back and neck pain are often self-limited, but health care spending remains high.
Objective: To evaluate the effects of 2 interventions that emphasize noninvasive care for spine pain.
Design, Setting, And Participants: Pragmatic, cluster, randomized clinical trial conducted at 33 centers in the US that enrolled 2971 participants with neck or back pain of 3 months' duration or less (enrollment, June 2017 to March 2020; final follow-up, March 2021).
Background: Continuing medical education in stereotactic technology are scarcely accessible in developing countries. We report the results of upscaling a longitudinal telehealth training course on stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), after successfully developing a pilot course in Latin America.
Methods: Longitudinal training on SBRT and SRS was provided to radiation oncology practitioners in Peru and Colombia at no cost.
Problem: High-quality training opportunities for providers in limited-resource settings are often scarce or nonexistent. This can lead to a dearth of boots-on-the-ground workers capable of translating knowledge into effective action. The tested telehealth education model of Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) can help address this disparity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Our objective was to demonstrate the efficacy of a telehealth training course on high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy for gynecologic cancer treatment for clinicians in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Methods: A 12-week course consisting of 16 live video sessions was offered to 10 cancer centers in the Middle East, Africa, and Nepal. A total of 46 participants joined the course, and 22 participants, on average, attended each session.
Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys
October 2020
Purpose: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latin American radiation therapy services has not yet been widely assessed. In comparison to centers in Europe or the United States, the scarcity of data on these terms might impair design of adequate measures to ameliorate the pandemic's potential damage. The first survey-based analysis revealing regional information is herein presented.
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