Regional Training Centers

The purposes of the FASD Regional Training Centers (RTCs) are to (1) develop, implement, and evaluate educational curricula regarding FASD prevention, identification, and care for medical and allied health students and practitioners, and (2) incorporate the curricula into the training programs at each grantee’s university or college, into other schools throughout their regions, and into the credentialing requirements of professional boards.

The competencies upon which the RTC trainings are based are as follows:

1. Demonstrate the historical, biomedical, and clinical background of fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) and other prenatal alcohol-related disorders, known collectively as fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs).

2. Provide services aimed at preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies in women of childbearing age through screening and brief interventions for alcohol use.

3. Apply concepts and models of addiction to women of childbearing age and pregnant women to provide appropriate prevention services, referral, and case management.

4. Describe the effects of alcohol on the developing embryo and the developing fetus.

5. Screen, diagnose, and assess infants, children, adolescents, and adults for FAS and other prenatal alcohol-related disorders.

6. Provide long-term case management for persons with FASDs.

7. Recognize ethical, legal, and policy issues related to FASDs.

Funded Projects:

Southeastern U.S. Education Center for the Prevention of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

The Southeastern RTC serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee, with an emphasis on FASD prevention, care, and ethics for minorities and individuals affected by health disparities. The center is a collaboration between Meharry Medical College (Nashville, Tennessee), Morehouse School of Medicine (Atlanta, Georgia), and Tennessee State University (Nashville, Tennessee). Training efforts address the concern that while many health practitioners appreciate the importance of prevention and diagnosis for FAS and related conditions, they might feel apprehensive about their skills to assess maternal drinking or its consequences for a child. This contributes to missed recognition of FASDs in children and less optimal management of their health and social needs. At Morehouse School of Medicine, the program works closely with the National Center for Primary Care and its network of more than 150 clinics throughout the southeast. Also, via a joint program in Allied Health at Meharry and Tennessee State, contacts have been made with the College of Allied Health Deans throughout the region to enhance dissemination of educational materials. Click here to learn more about the Southeastern RTC.

Northeast Regional FAS Education and Training Center

The Northeastern RTC, located in the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), provides FASD-related education in multiple training and practice environments. It is closely associated with the NJ state-funded FAS Diagnostic Centers, one of which is also located in the New Jersey Medical School. This gives the Northeastern RTC direct access to child developmental specialists and pediatricians, allowing for practical assessment of strategies and materials developed as part of the educational network. Within the UMDNJ system, the Northeastern RTC has provided FASD training to all three major campuses and is working with the affiliated nursing, allied health, and public health schools. The New Jersey Medical School, Department of Pediatrics, has a “week of FASD” for residents and third-year medical students, in which information is provided on each core competency and practical case presentation from the affiliated state diagnostic centers are incorporated. Outside of the medical school environment, training has been provided to the New Jersey State Department of Justice personnel and local school districts and hospitals. Relationships and trainings have also been established at the sate level with the Department of Human Services, Department of Health, Division of Youth and Family Services, Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services, Maternal Child Health Consortia, and state nurses. The Northeastern RTC is also an important and active member of the New Jersey Governor’s Task Force on FAS.

Midwest Regional Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Training Center (MRFASTC)

MRFASTC is a collaboration between the Saint Louis University School of Medicine and College of Health Sciences, the University of Missouri-Columbia Schools of Medicine and Health Professions, and the St. Louis Arc. The approach used by MRFASTC to educate audiences about prenatal alcohol exposure and its effects includes integrating developed material into medical school curricula and offering workshops to health care professionals throughout a six-state area—Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Oklahoma. In order to train health care professionals, MRFASTC has adopted a train-the-trainer model. The team has recruited 36 trainers from the six-state area who are expected to each hold two training events in his or her area with local health care professionals or students per year, tailoring the presentation to the particular audience. Click here to learn more about MRFASTC.

Western Medical-Allied Health Education Center on Fetal Alcohol Exposure

The primary goal of the Western RTC, based out of the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), is to introduce medical students to the practice of public health and preventive health care by integrating preventive clinical medicine into a basic science curriculum. Given this approach, the Western RTC has integrated educational materials on FASDs into the medical school curriculum at UCLA. The program includes a variety of education experiences, such as use of standardized patient (SP) cases—that is, scenarios in which an actor is carefully coached to accurately and consistently portray a specific patient—to allow students to learn and practice skills in counseling patients to promote positive changes in health behaviors. Using this approach, various SP cases have been developed to teach techniques such as screening for alcohol use and brief intervention (BI) as well as assessing an individual for effects from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Related Publications:

FASD Regional Training Centers Consortium. Educating health professionals about fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. American Journal of Health Education 2007;38(6):364-373.

Wedding D, Kohout J, Mengel MB, Ohlemiller M, Ulione M, Cook K, Rudeen K, Braddock S. Psychologists' knowledge and attitudes about FAS, FASD, and alcohol use during pregnancy. Professional Psychology: Research & Practice 2007;38(2):208-213.

Gahagan S, Sharpe TT, Brimacombe M, Fry-Johnson Y, Levine R, Mengel M, O’Connor M, Paley B, Adubato S, Brenneman G. Pediatricians’ knowledge, training, and experience in the care of children with fetal alcohol syndrome. Pediatrics 2006;118(3):e657-e668. [Abstract]

Mengel MB, Searight HR, Cook K. Preventing alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine 2006;19(5):494-505. [Abstract]

Mengel MB, Ulione M, Cook K, Rudeen K, Braddock S, Ohlemiller M. Midwest family physicians’ knowledge and attitudes about FAS, FASD, and alcohol use during pregnancy.  Journal of FAS International 2006;4:e7. [Abstract].

Baillie S, Paley B, Guiton G, O’Connor M, Stuber M. Using fetal alcohol syndrome as an integrating curricular theme. Medical Education 2005;39:508.

Brimacombe M, Adubato S, Cohen D, Wilson A, Lamendola M.  Comprehensive approaches to the screening, diagnosis and prevention of fetal alcohol syndrome in New Jersey. Journal of FAS International 2005;3:e4. [Abstract]

Sharpe TT, Alexander M, Hutcherson J, Floyd RL, Brimacombe M, Levine R, Mengel M, Stuber M. Report from the CDC. Physician and allied health professionals' training and fetal alcohol syndrome. Journal of Women's Health 2004;13(2):133-139. [Abstract]

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