UF nursing faculty members to train health care providers in clinical breast examination
A team that developed the recognized standard for clinical breast examination more than 20 years ago at the University of Florida has returned to campus to establish its first university-based certified training center in the United States.
The UF College of Nursing will partner with Mammatech Corp. of Gainesville, Fla., to train health-care professionals and private patients in a technologically innovative, highly proficient method of clinical breast examination known as MammaCare, a registered trademark of Mammatech.
The scientific effort to develop an effective method of breast examination began in a UF research laboratory in 1974. This effort was later funded by the National Cancer Institute. A team of UF scientists and physicians conducted experimental studies to determine the size of the smallest palpable breast lesion and the most effective procedure for examining breast tissue. At the study’s conclusion, the National Cancer Institute encouraged the team to develop a breast examination training program based upon their research findings; that training program has since evolved into MammaCare.
An estimated 203,500 new cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among women in the United States this year. Early detection is the primary weapon in the war against this deadly disease, and clinical breast examinations increasingly are seen as the preferred method of detection. While breast self-examination has been hotly debated in the media breast ,examinations by health professionals are seen as proficient. The National Cancer Institute, the National Cancer Society and the Centers for Disease Control have recognized the MammaCare method as the standard for these professional examinations.
“MammaCare is widely acknowledged as the standard for proficient, skill-based clinical breast examination, and demand must not compromise the high-quality levels of training upon which we insist,” said H.S. Pennypacker, Ph.D., CEO of Mammatech Corp. and owner of MammaCare. “To maintain quality while meeting the demand, we want to work with lead institutions and colleges like the University of Florida and the UF College of Nursing. After all, we are a child of UF and the Health Science Center.”
Beginning in January, the UF College of Nursing’s new building will be the site for the UF MammaCare-certified training center. Equipped with cutting-edge technology, faculty will train health-care professionals and patients using the college’s new state-of-the-art skills laboratory. College of Nursing faculty members Charlene Krueger, Ph.D., A.R.N.P., an assistant professor; Anna Kelley, M.S.N., A.R.N.P., a clinical assistant professor; Carmen Rodriguez, M.S.N., A.R.N.P., a clinical assistant professor; and Charlotte Spellacy, M.S., A.R.N.P., a clinical assistant professor, will lead the classes.
“The MammaCare method will become, if it hasn’t already, the leading method of training clinicians and patients in breast examination,” Krueger said. “So it’s natural that the UF College of Nursing, which has always been forward-thinking in education and practice, is collaborating with MammaCare to advance the standards of care in women’s health.”
Because of a lack of skills-based training, few women are able to perform breast self-exams with the skill and proficiency to become aware of small structural changes that may occur in the breast. The MammaCare method has been the subject of various research projects, which have overwhelmingly found it superior to many other methods. In a 1999 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers examined the benefits of clinical breast examinatons using the MammaCare method and found that when conducted properly, these examinations can detect at least 50 percent of asymptomatic cancers and may help reduce death rates in women screened.
Using models that accurately simulate breast tissue, examiners’ are trained to use their fingers to discriminate small simulated lesions from normal breast tissue and learn a distinctive pattern of search that offers substantially greater coverage of the breast area than possible with conventional methods. According to research, the MammaCare method can detect a lump as small as 0.3 centimeters, while conventional self-exams typically detect lumps 2 centimeters or larger.
College of Nursing faculty members will offer several levels of training. A three-day course will train health professionals to become certified MammaCare specialists who will be able to teach the MammaCare method to other health-care providers. A one-day course also will be offered for clinicians who require appropriate skills training. Graduates will be certified in the MammaCare method, enabling them to perform the clinical examinations in their practices.
“In the future, I hope that this method (MammaCare) will be a standard of care for clinicians—physicians, nurse practitioners and nurse-midwives. Women have the right to leave their clinicians’ office with the heightened level of confidence in their own breast examination that this method of training brings,” Krueger said. “By serving as a site for more education and training, the College of Nursing can assist health-care providers and patients in taking a more active role in the prevention of breast cancer.”