From an article by Leo Shane III, in the Stars and Stripes News, we learn that medical schools will soon include more course work on post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, and other common military ailments.

This is in response to a White-House led effort to prepare future physicians for the next generation of veteran patients. The plans were announced by First Lady Michelle Obama and officials from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine recently.

A surprising fact from the article states that more than half of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans receiving treatment for mental health issues do not rely on Department of Veterans Affairs physicians, but instead turn to private medical practices.

Michelle Obama said,

“We have to meet our veterans and military families where they live. We have to engage all of this country’s doctors, nurses and health care providers on the challenges these families face, especially on the issues of mental health.”

Officials from the associations stated that that the goal is to ensure that young medical professionals become familiar with the signature wounds of war, as well as to be able to more effectively treat the millions of veterans who will be struggling with these issues for decades  to come.

To read the complete article, go to:

http://www.stripes.com/news/medical-schools-to-increase-focus-on-ptsd-tbi-1.165601?loc…

Note:

This is encouraging news. There is so much more to be learned about PTSD and its treatment, as well as Traumatic Brain Injury. These problems are incurred by the civilian population as well as the military. I’m glad to see nurses will be included in this focus, as they are the hands-on-caregivers in medical facilities.

In my daily life, I’m often astounded by the ignorance that still exists on the subject of PTSD. Encountering this problem so often is what keeps me motivated to continue writing this blog, and share my personal PTSD experience.

I pray for a day when the general public and all medical providers will have a much deeper understanding of what so many of us live with day after day, year after year.

Hopefully, this will go a long way toward erasing the stigma that is still attached to those who suffer with this often misunderstood illness.