To Doctors and Nurses on the moral regulation of conception

We hold in the highest esteem those doctors and members of the nursing profession who, in the exercise of their calling, endeavor to fulfill the demands of their Christian vocation before any merely human interest ....  let them strive to win agreement and support for these policies among their professional colleagues. Moreover, they should regard it as an essential part of their skill to make themselves fully proficient in this difficult field of medical knowledge.
                                                                            (Humanae vitae, 27)

Providing healthcare professionals with access to education in the science, methodology, and ethics of Natural Family Planning is critical. As St. Paul VI notes in Humanae vitae, "For then, when married couples ask for their advice, they may be in a position to give them right counsel and to point them in the proper direction. Married couples have a right to expect this much from them." (Humanae vitae, 27)
 

Physician Testimonies

Danielle Koestner, DO is a family practice physician with a specialty in women's health and reproductive endocrinology. Dr. Koestner is a member of the Fertility Education Medical Management (FEMM) Medical Education Team. She speaks about her journey to provide NFP to her patients.

Karen Poehailos, MD
Dr. Poehailos is a family medicine physician with specialized training in several methods of Natural Family Planning (a Sympto-Thermal Method, Creighton Model FertilityCare, and FEMM). In this video Dr. Poehailos tells her story about how she realized that contraception was not good for her patients and that the Church's teachings about NFP were not only true, but good for her patients.

 

Select Resources for Healthcare Professionals
 

Billings Ovulation Method Association--USA
(BOMA-USA)

BOMA-USA offers a self-paced virtual course on the science and methodology of Natural Family Planning with focused content on the Billings Method. The series offers continuing education units for both physicians and nurses. For more information please see boma-usa.org/health-professionals.html.
 

Fertility Awareness Collaborative To Teach the Science
(FACTS)

NFP Introduction E-Learn

FACTS is a national collaborative of physicians, nurses, and NFP educators committed to educating physicians in NFP. This e-learn, which was developed in part with the aid of USCCB's NFP Program's staff, provides an hour-long introduction to the science and methods of NFP. Each subject section is followed by an interactive quiz. CEUs and CMEs are available from the FACTS website.

Individual chapters of the e-learn (without the tests), are provided in MP4 files on YouTube (see below). These individual chapters can easily be used for general NFP education.

Since the USCCB's NFP Program collaborated on this e-learn with FACTS leadership, diocesan NFP coordinators and parish NFP educators have access to the individual chapters (but not the tests and therefore, not the CEUs and CMEs). To access the individual chapters contact @email.

Currently, FACTS is updating the NFP effectiveness chapter. Due to this work, they temporarily have taken the e-learn off their website. For further information contact FACTS director, Marguerite Duane, MD at @email.

Marquette University, NFP Institute

Online Education Programs

The Marquette University Institute for Natural Family Planning (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) offers an online self-paced educational program for healthcare professionals that includes:

  • Core course in all natural indicators of fertility
  • Teacher training service program in the Marquette Method of NFP that integrates new hormonal monitoring technology
  • An evidenced-based case study NFP medical application course

The online educational services are designed for professional (BSN level) nurses, advanced practice nurses, physicians, and physician assistants.

CMEs are available through the Medical College of Wisconsin (Milwaukee). Contact hours for nurses are also available through the Wisconsin Nurses Association-Continuing Education Approval Program.

For more information contact: Richard J. Fehring, PhD, RN, FAAN (@email); or Mary Schneider, MSN, FNP-BC (@email); Institute for Natural Family Planning, College of Nursing, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI; Tel. 1-414-288-3854; @email.

St. Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction

The St. Pope Paul VI Institute (Omaha, Nebraska) offers a variety of educational programs for healthcare professionals in the Creighton Model FertilityCareTM system and in NaProTechnology (women's reproductive health services). These programs carry the appropriate CMEs and CEUs from the School of Medicine, Creighton University.

  • Medical Consultant
    This six month program consists of two Education Phases (an eight-day course and a seven-day course) and supervised practicum via long distance supervision.
    Note: This program is only for medical doctors, osteopaths, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurse midwives, or pharmacists.
     
  • Medical Consultant/Practitioner
    This combined program of 13 months consists of two Education Phases (an eight-day course and another eight-day course) and supervised practicum via long distance supervision. An On- Site Visit is required.
    Note: Prerequisite—Bachelor degree or RN degree and certification as a FertilityCareTM Practitioner with a minimum of one year of teaching the Creighton Model FertilityCareTM System.
     
  • Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, Nurse Midwife, or Pharmacist
    These certificate programs include a combination of the Creighton Model FertilityCareTM Practitioner (teaching the method) and Medical Consultant Programs (working with NaProTechnology). A FertilityCareTM Practitioner who is a nurse practitioner, physician assistant, nurse midwife or pharmacist may return to Education Phase II and complete the Medical Consultant portion of the program.

For further information contact:
Education Program Coordinator
6901 Mercy Road Omaha, NE 68106
(402) 390-9168
(402) 390-9851 FAX
E-mail: @email
Web Page: https://popepaulvi.com/education

 

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