Assuring STD Clinical Workforce Capacity: Principle Employment Settings of Clinicians Attending STD/HIV Prevention Training Center Courses

Background:

Annually, the STD/HIV Prevention Training Centers (PTCs) train clinicians from a variety of employment settings. Increasingly reportable STDs are being diagnosed and treated in non-STD clinic settings and common reporting sources include private physicians/HMOs, other health department clinics, family planning clinics, and emergency rooms (CDC 2009 STD Surveillance Report). Ensuring that health care providers working in these settings receive high quality STD clinical training is therefore an important priority for the PTCs.

Objectives:

To describe the principle employment settings of participants receiving STD clinical training from the PTCs in 2009.

Methods:

In 2009, 4496 participants attending PTC clinical training courses completed a participant information form (PIF) consisting of 12 multiple choice demographic and practice characteristic questions. Participants were asked to select one of a list of employment setting choices that best described their principle employment setting. Response frequencies to the question were analyzed using SAS.

Results:

The most frequently selected employment setting was State/Local Health Department (30%), followed by Hospital or Hospital Affiliated Clinic (16%), Community/non-profit health center/clinic (12%), School/university (10%), Private Physician/HMO ( 5%), Community Based Organization (5%),  Correctional Facility (3%), Tribal/Indian Health Services (2%), and  Military (1%).  Two percent of participants reported being unemployed and 13% of responses were unknown or other.

Conclusions:

Health care providers attending PTC clinical training events in 2009 reported a variety of principle employment settings, including many non-STD clinic settings. While 30% of the clinicians reported working in State/Local Heath Department (STD and other health department clinics), over half of the participants worked in non-STD clinic settings outside the health department which are becoming more and more important sources for STD diagnosis and treatment.  

Implications for Programs, Policy, and Research:

As STD clinical care moves out of STD programs and into non-STD clinic settings, PTC clinical training for clinicians in these settings is essential to assuring their capacity to accurately manage STD patients.