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Caring for Women Veterans
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Training course helps identify links between military service and health conditions
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New guide on Long COVID identifies common symptoms and conditions
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Did you know that more than two million women Veterans are living in the United States today?
Women Veterans have unique health care needs that may require different assessments, care and resources. Military sexual trauma, musculoskeletal pain and post-deployment readjustment, for example, can impact Veterans who identify as women differently than for male-identified Veterans.
To secure the highest-quality care, women Veterans need access to clinicians trained in Veteran women’s health and/or transgender care. To address this need, the VA’s Office of Women’s Health has created “Caring for Women Veterans in the Community” training.
This course trains non-VA clinicians to provide Veteran and gender-specific care. The accredited online training program is intended to help you learn how to better serve women Veterans and ensure they receive the best health care in local communities.
VA is dedicated to ensuring women Veterans receive the gender-specific care they need, no matter where they receive their health care.
To learn more and to take this course, visit the Office of Women’s Health page for non-VA clinicians here.
You will earn one (1) credit hour for this training. The training is available through VHA TRAIN; you can access using the QR code below.
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When you ask a Veteran patient about their military service, pooled electronic health data and research can be used to detect associations between illness and deployment. This can enhance your awareness and the care you provide. A training course is available specific to identifying links between health conditions and military service.
VHA TRAIN offers A Perspective for Veteran Care, a one-hour course that covers issues important to Veteran patients such as military culture, suicide awareness and prevention, military sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and the importance of creating a brief military service and deployment history on any Veteran presenting to you for care.
For example, a 63-year-old man may have multiple myeloma and Parkinson’s disease. A 41-year-old woman may have chronic fatigue and myalgia. A 30-year-old patient may have memory loss and panic attacks. These patients may all present with symptoms related to their deployments in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan or other countries. This course can help make connections between a Veteran’s past deployment and symptoms that may be service-related.
VA has a variety of resources to successfully expand and enhance the culturally and linguistically sensitive care you provide to Veterans. You can also earn credit while enhancing your knowledge on differences in Veteran and non-Veteran health care.
Be sure to add your personal NPI to register your course completion in the Provider Profile Management System (PPMS).
Section 133: A Perspective for Veteran Care (Requires NPI number for access) https://train.missionact.org/main/course/1085488/ An introduction to military culture, suicide awareness and prevention, military sexual trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Time: 1 hour / 1 CEU (*complete the course evaluation to earn credit)
Register for the webinar at VHA TRAIN. Don’t have an account? Create one.
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VA’s Patient-Aligned Care Team (PACT) Guide: Whole Health System Approach to Long COVID is now available.
This first-of-its-kind guide identifies the most common symptoms and conditions that can be attributed to Long COVID and makes recommendations using a Whole Health approach to managing care for Veterans and beneficiaries. It provides suggestions for providers engaging in shared health care decision-making with Veterans but is not intended to replace clinical judgement.
Who should use the Long COVID Guide?
You, your staff, other community providers. The guide reflects VA’s pledge to share best practices and lessons learned with health care providers across the nation.
How can you and your staff access the Long COVID Guide?
Share this link. Once on the website, scroll down to the last paragraph to find the guide. Invite your colleagues and staff to share it with other health care providers at affiliate hospitals and in the private sector. Updates to the guide will be shared on the same link as more is learned about Long COVID.
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V E T E R A N S P O T L I G H T
In observance of National Hispanic Heritage Month, this month’s Veteran spotlight is Roberto Clemente, who was a native of Puerto Rico, a Veteran and a hero in the sport of baseball.
Major League Baseball (MLB) recently celebrated Roberto Clemente Day. But did you know this famous slugger was also a Marine Corps Veteran who served as an infantryman in the Marine Corps Reserve?
In 1954, Clemente was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Four years later, he enlisted in the Marine Corps as a reserve infantryman and spent his off-season serving on duty. Clemente was determined to maintain his military commitment and worked around his professional baseball season to serve.
Clemente achieved exactly 3,000 hits, as well as 240 home runs and a lifetime batting average of .317. He was a two-time World Series champion (1960, 1971), won the National League Most Valuable Player (MVP) award in 1966 and World Series MVP in 1971. He led the National League in hitting in 1961, 1964, 1965 and 1967.
Clemente died tragically in 1972 at age 38 in a plane crash on his way to deliver aid to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. He was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame in 1973 and the Marine Corps Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He was also inducted into the Puerto Rican Veterans Hall of Fame in 2018.
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E D U C A T I O N & T R A I N I N G
This recorded, knowledge-based webinar will educate health care teams on lethal means safety counseling. Participants will learn about the purpose of lethal means safety for suicide prevention, including how to work with Veterans and their friends and family. All community providers are highly encouraged to take this training.
Accreditations: AAPA, ACCME, ACCME-NP, ACPE, ANCC, APA, ASWB, NYSED SW, JA IPCE
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This series of on-demand trainings gives providers a foundational understanding of key components of care for lesbian, gay, bisexual, or LGB+, Veterans. This video addresses how to ask appropriate questions and provides scenarios to demonstrate clinically appropriate conversations. The VA takes pride in providing care to LGBTQ+ Veterans.
Accreditations: ACCME, ACCME-NP, ANCC, APA, ASWB, JA IPCE, NBCC, NYSED-P, NYSED-SW
Location: VHA TRAIN - Non-VA employees click here. VA employees click here.
Audience: Physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, counselors and non-clinical staff interested in the training
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Questions? If you require assistance, please contact the VHA TRAIN Help Desk by email at vhatrain@va.gov.
How to obtain your credit certificate:
Once you complete a credited training, you can obtain your credential certificate(s) in four easy steps:
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Log in to VHA Train - https://vha.train.org/vha/login
- Go to “Your Learning”
- Go to “Your Certificates”
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Download your certificate
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P O D C A S T S
 "PTSD Bytes" is a weekly podcast hosted by clinical psychologist Pearl McGee-Vincent from the VA National Center for PTSD featuring an expert or innovator about how technology can support people with PTSD or other mental health concerns. Join us for “bite-sized” pieces of practical information you can use or share.
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In this episode host Pearl McGee-Vincent discusses alcohol use and PTSD with Dr. Monica Roy from VA Boston and Dr. Marika Solhan from the Boston Vet Center.
In this episode host Dr. Pearl McGee-Vincent discusses PTSD and anger with
Dr Margaret-Anne Mackintosh, a clinical psychologist at the National Center for PTSD.
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I N O T H E R N E W S
Flu Shot Reminder
As we move into Fall, a reminder that eligible Veterans can get a no-cost flu shot from a nearby VA clinic or within their community. Veterans are being advised to call ahead before visiting a VA or community facility to receive a flu shot.
Veterans can visit the VA locator to find a facility and check flu shot availability or consider one of 70,000 in-network pharmacy or urgent care locations nationwide, by typing in their ZIP code.
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