The Need for Physician Education
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) published its consensus panel statement on celiac disease (CD) in 2004. This consensus statement called for better education of healthcare providers. The NIH estimates over 3,000,000 people in the US have celiac disease, but less than 5% are diagnosed. Further, it takes an average of ten years for patients to receive a definitive Celiac disease diagnosis.
According to Joseph Murray, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, “The major challenge is not in confirming the diagnosis but in identifying those individuals who may have celiac disease and selecting the appropriate tests to screen for it. Many practitioners are not familiar with the many ways in which celiac disease presents or with the noninvasive methods available for identifying the disease.”
Awareness of Celiac disease is slowly increasing. There are 800,000 physicians in the US receptive to educational resources which will enable them to recognize and promptly diagnose celiac disease and gluten sensitivity.
CSA Responds
CSA is initiating the most ambitious celiac disease physician education program ever undertaken in the United States…The CSA Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity Physician Education Program (CSA-PEP).
CSA is perfectly suited to deliver focused educational information to physicians and medical students. As the largest non-profit celiac support organization in the United States, CSA has 30+ years of experience providing resources to over 94,000 data base contacts, over 9,000 national members, and more than 125 chapters and resource units across the country. CSA consults with board certified medical advisors to develop their educational materials.
CSA-PEP Goal
The goal of CSA-PEP is to increase the rate of assessment, diagnosis and treatment of celiac disease and gluten sensitivity in the United States.
CSA-PEP Objectives
• Establish greater awareness of celiac disease and the importance of early diagnosis through working partnerships with the mainstream medical community and public.
• Compile a comprehensive set of educational materials on celiac disease and gluten sensitivity from noted medical sources--the CSA-PEP packet.
• Deliver CSA-PEP packets to 60,800 physicians and 10,000 medical students by 2012.
• Introduce physicians and medical students to CSA and its national programs, resources, and patient support chapters. Proposed Packet Materials
• NIH Publications Pertaining to Celiac Disease
• NIH Celiac Disease Consensus Development Statement
• NIH fact sheet, “Celiac Disease”
• NIH publication “What I Need to Know About Celiac
Disease” (English and Spanish Versions)
• Celiac Sprue Association Publications
• Current Issue Lifeline (CSA Member Newsletter)
• Dermatitis Herpetiformis by Hall, MD (Lifeline
• 3-step diet reprint by Jean Guest, RD, PhD, LMNT (Lifeline
• New patient packet (Includes ten pieces of information)
• The CSA Gluten-Free Product Listing on compact disk
• Medication concerns-Drug Ingredients
• CSA Peer Review Research Grant Program information
• Order Sheet Fax for Free brochures and postcards
• Recognizing Celiac Disease – Cleo Libonati, RN, BSN
• Celiac Disease Research References
Final packet contents, following the pilot, will be determined in consultation with CSA Medical Advisors.
Partnering for Success
This working partnership between the CSA membership and physicians will substantially raise the degree of suspicion necessary to identify at-risk patients and increase the rate of Celiac disease diagnosis and follow-up patient support. Through increased diagnosis and better management of celiac disease, this project will potentially improve the lives of millions of people who are presently suffering needlessly. |
