Basic Steps for Organizing an International ALSO Course
| 1) Identify a host institution. Many countries have never hosted an ALSO course. Factors such as language fluency, host country health needs, and personal or professional connections may influence this decision. Ideally, the host institution should have a family practice residency. |
| 2) Identify a course coordinator at the host institution. The course coordinator will collaborate with the US course director. The host course coordinator will need to secure space to hold the course and advertise the course within the host country. Arrangements need to be made for audiovisual aids, US instructor meals, and accommodations. |
| 3) Assemble a teaching team from the US. One person needs to be an ALSO faculty advisor and at least half must be ALSO instructors or instructor candidates. The instructors should be fluent in the language in which the course will be taught or interpreter services will need to be arranged. |
| 4) Submit a written proposal for course development to the ALSO International Subcommittee. Instructions for submitting a proposal can be found at http://www.aafp.org/x965.xml. |
| 5) Translate course materials, if necessary. Permission must be obtained to translate ALSO course materials. Guidelines for obtaining permission to publish translated materials are available at http://www.aafp.org/x969.xml. The course has been translated into Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. A Portuguese translation should be available soon. The slides, but not the syllabus, have been translated into French, and a Danish version of the written exam is available. |
| 6) Solicit mannequins to donate to the host institution. The ALSO instructor manual lists contact information for three mannequin venders. The mannequins are central to the course and prohibitively expensive for many host institutions. Ideally, 4 to 6 should be donated. They cost approximately $450 each. |
| 7) Administer a precourse survey. See Table 2. The ALSO advisory board needs to approve any changes to ALSO curriculum based on the precourse survey. |
| 8) Follow the course development instructions found in the ALSO instructor course syllabus.8 |
| 9) Contact Diana Winslow RN, BSN, ALSO Program Manager, with questions. E-mail: dwinslow{at}aafp.org; Phone: 1-800-274-2237, ext. 6550 |