Examination and Interpretation of Wet Preparations of Vaginal Specimens

Intended for Practicing Clinicians with Prior Wet Mount Experience

The course begins with a fifteen minute didactic presentation on applicable issues of CLIA regulation, quality control, and interpretation vaginal wet mount (VWM) for common causes of vaginitis. This will be followed by a fifteen minute video that details through the microscope footage of findings on VWM including trichomads, yeast and clue cells associated with BV. The remaining two and one-half hours consists of experiential training, including laboratory practicum on examination of saline and KOH vaginal wet mounts (VWM). During this portion of the training, participants will have an opportunity for group discussion, explanation, and demonstration, as well as practice and return demonstration.

Learning Objectives

  • Practice proper preparation of saline and KOH specimens of vaginal fluid to increase viability of specimens for microscopic evaluation.
  • Perform proper use of the light microscope to improve examination of saline and KOH wet mount specimens.
  • Assess wet mount microscopy specimens to appropriately interpret findings that support diagnosis of vulvovaginal candidiasis, bacterial vaginosis or trichomoniasis

March 30, 2023 from 2:00PM – 5:00PM (PDT)
UCSF Parnassus Heights Campus: San Francisco, CA
Instructors: Sharon Adler, MD, MPH and Lee Fagen, NP

Social Media Strategies Learning Collaborative Video Playlist

Web marketing specialist using their phone and laptop to create engaging social media content.

Watch presentations and discussions from our Social Media Strategies Learning Collaborative.

The purpose of the learning collaborative was to highlight examples of social media strategies that successfully engaged communities into HIV prevention programs. Presenters and participants discussed ways to leverage dating apps, reach populations and educate communities about PrEP.

Watch the highlights on our YouTube page!

Structural Interventions Institute

In June 2022 CAPTC and partners convened a two-day institute. The goal was to improve knowledge of how structural interventions operate to address the environmental, social, and economic factors that influence individual risk and protective behaviors.

Recordings are available at the dedicated page.

The NYC Condom Availability Program: Structural Changes During a Pandemic

Jennifer Matsuki and Ilona Charkow highlight how the NYC Condom Availability Program (NYCAP) was able to meet the needs of the community with its condom distribution program during the COVID-19 pandemic. This session also highlights the importance of organizations being able to pivot service delivery models to continue to meet the community’s needs and demands.

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.

The Modernization of HIV Laws in Nevada; Changing Legislature

Andre Wade provides an overview of how the state of Nevada addressed a structural barrier to HIV prevention and care by modernizing its HIV duty to warn laws. HIV criminalization laws, a.k.a. duty to warn, were established across the nation in the early 1990’s as part of the 1990 Ryan White CARE Act – requiring states to certify that they had adequate laws in place to prosecute individuals who knowingly exposed another person to HIV. These outdated and discriminatory laws aided in increasing HIV stigma, hindered disclosure of HIV status, and created barriers to access to HIV prevention and care services. 

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.

Deconstructing Organizational Transphobia

Zami Hyemingway explores the negative impact of transphobia on clients who identify as transgender or non-binary persons when they access HIV care and prevention, services. Improve your knowledge of organizational transphobia and the ways it is practiced and institutionalized. Explore structural strategies, which incorporate an intersectional approach for naming and combating transphobia within your organization and systems of care, and help to bridge the medical divide for transgender people seeking and accessing services.

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.

Delivering Trauma Informed Care to Reduce Health Disparities in Vulnerable Populations

To examine trauma-informed care as a structural intervention, Shamere Mackenzie highlights the importance of supplying care and support services to vulnerable populations in a trauma-informed manner, further helping to promote healthy outcomes and increase client engagement in care and prevention services. Learn the principles of trauma-informed care and strategies for infusing trauma-informed care into systems of care and prevention.

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.

Cultural Humility through Structural Changes, Institutional Accountability

Creating change at an institutional level to promote cultural humility requires an assessment of barriers and structures that have created disparities in health outcomes for particular communities. Tim Vincent highlights an example of one health department’s approach which effectively integrated cultural humility by making structural changes in their service delivery. This session provides participants with the opportunity to learn and discuss how cultural humility can be institutionalized at a structural level to increase client engagement in their jurisdictions.

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.

Structural Interventions Institute: Community Engagement

Community engagement is essential in developing and implementing structural interventions. Duran Rutledge briefly discusses the importance of gaining community buy-in for interventions, highlighting the “wisdom of crowds” perspective, and provides participants an opportunity to share experiences in engaging communities.

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.

Structural Interventions in Action

Matthew Willis explains how the California State Office of AIDS has funded and supported structural interventions (SIs) throughout the state, particularly the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative. The session focuses on six of eight counties that make up the California Consortium, implementing SI to address the three critical components of SI – acceptability, accessibility, and availability.

Watch all recorded videos from our Structural Interventions for HIV Prevention and Care Virtual Institute.