Agricultural News
Beef Checkoff Launches Accredited Web-Based BOLD Study Training Program for Physicians
Fri, 03 May 2013 16:10:34 CDT
The Oklahoma Beef Council recently announced the launch of a nation-wide program to educate physicians and other health professional groups on how lean beef fits into a heart-healthy diet. The effort is a follow up to the 2012 Beef Checkoff-funded BOLD (BEEF in an Optimum Lean Diet) study. The study demonstrated that lean beef could be added to a heart-healthy diet everyday and significantly lower cholesterol.
Since then, there have been significant efforts by National Cattlemen's Beef Association and state beef councils, including Oklahoma, to share the information with health professionals across the US.
According to Heather Buckmaster, the executive director of the Oklahoma Beef Council, her organization has taken that process to the next level. She joined Ron Hays on the latest Beef Buzz. (You can listen to that interview by clicking on the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of this story.)
"There have been extensive efforts on a state and national level to provide that information to health professional groups, but we wanted to take that one step further. Feeling like the physician level, that family physician level, is where people get their first bit of counseling, 'You need to lower your cholesterol, you need to take these steps in your diet,' we wanted to really target in on that.
"When physicians are looking at their patients, they want to help. They want to ensure they have good results and that they have adherence to diets. And one of the things our research will show is that when you include lean beef in the diet, and you're able to include lean beef in the diet, you're more likely to stick to that diet because you have that variety."
Knowing that continuing medical education (CME) was an important requirement for most physicians and knowing that online medical education was also growing, the Oklahoma Beef Council engaged a top medical communication company to develop an online training program on the BOLD study to help educate physicians looking to fulfill their continuing medical education requirements.
The website www.heart-healthynutrition.com/ features two video presentations on the BOLD study narrated by Dr. Michael Roussell, one of the principal investigators. Physicians can take the courses and receive their CME's with accreditation from the American Academy of Family Physicians. The Oklahoma Beef Council is also working towards accreditation with other health professional groups but felt that physicians needed to be the first effort.
The site launched in April and the accreditation for the training is in effect until February 2015. A lot of work is being done at other state beef councils to spread the word. Buckmaster said they are very excited about this opportunity provided to them through the Oklahoma Beef Council.
In the future, there will be the ability to provide beef producers with the information on the number of medical professionals and other health professionals reached.
"If you look at all the Beef Checkoff programs throughout the years, I think when we've invested in research that's where we've seen the most dividends from those checkoff dollars," Buckmaster said.
The Beef Buzz is a regular feature heard on radio stations around the region on the Radio Oklahoma Network- but is also a regular audio feature found on this website as well. Click on the LISTEN BAR below for today's show- and check out our archives for older Beef Buzz shows covering the gamut of the beef cattle industry today.
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