This weekend, December 5 & 6, IGMA, the International GTA MUTA Association is hosting its first annual conference. The event is going to be held virtually and boasts a number of esteemed speakers from across the United States and internationally. Today’s blog will share some basic information about our Day 1 presentations and speakers.
Starting at 9:00am, IGMA President, Isle Polonko, will address attendees and offer information about the conference and IGMA’s first year in existence. Ms. Polonko has over 30 years in the field of GTA MUTA and has spent much of her career developing new and innovative ways to include GTA MUTA methodology in training future health care providers, including training of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, (SANEs). This conference is the culmination of a great deal of hard work for the IGMA Conference Committee and Board of Directors and Ms. Polonko is extremely proud to be a part of the exceptional work this organization is doing.
At 10:00, Eileen Allen, MSN, RN, FN-CSA, SANE-A, SANE-P, Richard Claflin and Samantha Maloney will present GTAs and FNE Students: Perfect Together. This presentation explores use of GTAs in Forensic Nurse Examiner programming. Eileen Allen has trained forensic nurse examiners internationally and has, in collaboration with Ms. Polonko, been developing protocol in the field for best practices for use of GTAs, MUTAs and simulation in forensic nurse examiner training. She has presented workshops and lectures across the United States and internationally, has co-authored several publications and is a recognized leader in the field of forensic nurse examiner training.
Richard Claflin is the Director of Clinical Practice Resources and is a recognized leader in the field of anxiety free exam training. He has developed the only Train the Trainer MUTA curriculum in existence and has set up numerous MUTA programs across the United States. Mr. Claflin recently presented a poster presentation at the 2020 ASPiH conference and has a subsequent publication. He is also lectured extensively including presentations across the United States on transgender awareness and use of GTA MUTA methodology to address health care concerns specific to this population. https://stel.bmj.com/content/6/Suppl_1/A24.2
Samantha Maloney is the Director of Curriculum Development at Clinical Practice Resources and the group’s lead out-of-state trainer. Ms. Maloney has written the latest installment of the GTA Train the Trainer curriculum and has presented at numerous conferences nationally about GTA methodology, transgender awareness and use of GTAs to meet the needs of marginalized populations.
At noon there is a lunchtime roundtable discussion that will include information on GTA MUTA methodology during the pandemic.
At 1:30, Juliana de Oliveira Musse Silva, PhD, MSPH, RN-BC, Rebeca Vieira and Wesley Augusto de Jesus Santo, RN will lead a presentation on the first ever GTA program in Brazil in conjunction with the country’s first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program. They will share their experiences about bringing the first program to the region and talk about their challenges and successes. Dr. Musse is a pioneer in the field having brought both the first Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program AND the first GTA program to her country. Since that time, she has accomplished a number of wonderful successes including training additional SANEs, starting her own business to support those in the medical field and presenting at several conferences. Both the SANE and GTA programs she founded are still running successfully. There is currently an article about the project being reviewed for international publication.
Rebeca Vieira is the lead GTA trainer with Dr. Musse’s program and while still in nursing school has managed to successfully lead the Brazil GTAs at their University. She is an inspiration and is hoping to bring GTA work to a number of other facilities across Brazil. Wesley Augusto de Jesus Santo is a nurse in the region and acted as the translator for the original program. He will manage the MUTA program when it is established in Brazil and will speak about what it was like to experience the program as an observer to the grueling work the women training as GTAs experienced.
Finally, Day 1 of the conference ends with a two-part presentation addressing racism in health care and use of simulation and GTA methodology to combat it. The first part of the presentation, Strategies for Addressing Racism and Promoting Health Equity in Healthcare Education, will be presented by Kellie Bryant, DNP, WHNP, CHSE, Executive Director of Simulation and Assistant Professor at Columbia University School of Nursing’s Helene Fuld Health Trust Simulation Center. Dr. Bryant’s prolific work in the field has not only had a positive impact through raising awareness around this critical issue but has begun to make significant inroads through consistent and creative outreach. In addition to her work at Columbia University, Dr. Bryant sits on a number of simulation boards and organizes symposiums and conferences addressing racism in healthcare and use of simulation to meet the challenges inherent racism presents.
Part 2, Looking Back to Change the Future: How GTAs Use an Anti-oppression Framework to Change Medical Practice, will be co-presented by Lauren Mitchell, M.S., Ph.D, and Sopé (Show-pay) Willoughby, MLS(ASCP)CM, MPH. Dr. Mitchell worked for over a decade in live patient simulation and GTA methodology and is now Assistant Professor of Medical Education and Director of Narrative Medicine at the TCU and UNT School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Mitchell worked at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, where she was co-manager of NYU’s Reproductive Family Planning Service/Ryan Program, and was the founding director of The Doula Project, the country’s first formalized full-spectrum (birth, abortion, adoption, and miscarriage) doula program.
Sopé is Baltimore based GTA, with a focus on strengthening her community through personal empowerment. With a Masters Degree in Public Health, it is incredibly important to her that communities are emotionally, physically and spiritually healthy. Training is her primary mode of implementing that change. Through her work as a GTA, she is able to tangibly improve patient outcomes by equipping care providers to see their patients holistically, with respect and autonomy. Together, Dr. Mitchell and Ms. Willoughby will explore ways that the use of GTA methodology can affect positive change and address this critical issue of racism in medicine.
These are our presenters for Day 1 of the conference. IGMA is very lucky to be able to welcome this prestigious panel of speakers to its first annual conference. It is literally only $30 to attend the entire day’s events, and CE hours are provided for nurses. This is an event you will not want to miss. Check in tomorrow to meet the presenters for Day 2 of the IGMA conference. The link for conference information and registration is https://events.gtamuta.org/ See you all there!