New MOOCs Provide Training for Healthcare Providers on HIV Treatment and Prevention

by | Apr 4, 2018 | Announcements

ICAP at Columbia University has developed two new self-paced MOOCs (massive open online courses) that are set to launch April 4, 2018, on the edX platform. Based on up-to-date guidelines from the World Health Organization, one course provides training for pediatric HIV nursing care and treatment while the other is focused on antiretroviral therapy for treating and preventing HIV. The courses are free and open to all with an optional paid verified certificate, and are self-paced to accommodate individual schedules and learning needs.

The MOOCs are led by Dr. Susan Michaels-Strasser, a professor of epidemiology (in ICAP) at the Columbia University Medical Center. ICAP at Columbia University has been a leader in international HIV care and treatment for over a decade. The organization has worked with governments and local organizations to help make HIV care and treatment widely available and patient centered.


Learn pediatric HIV nursing care and treatment according to up-to-date World Health Organization clinical guidelines. Watch the trailer for the course Pediatric HIV Nursing relaunching on edX on April 4.

The eight-week course Pediatric HIV Nursing equips nurses and midwives with the skills they need to provide quality clinical care to children living with HIV. In addition to Dr. Strasser, the course features instruction from leading experts in pediatric HIV clinical care and treatment, nursing, and global health, as well as interviews with experts and interactive assessments. Interviews will feature insights and recommendations for best practices in health care from clinicians who have long worked in the field, including Stephen Arpadi, professor of epidemiology and pediatrics at CUMC, Ruby Fayorsey, pediatric infection disease specialist and associate research scientist at ICAP, and Eduarda DeGusmao, associate research scientist at ICAP.

The six-week course Fighting HIV with Antiretroviral Therapy: Implementing the Treat-All Approach equips health workers with the skills they need to use antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV treatment and prevention. ART is a critical tool in the fight against the global HIV epidemic. With ART, antiretroviral drugs are used to suppress the HIV virus, stop the progression of the disease, and prevent onward transmission.

The Office of the Provost provided support for this project through a Request for Proposals for Massive Open Online Courses. The award provides instructors with extensive consultation services for their accepted course and support for instructional design and media production from the Columbia Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL).

Visit ColumbiaX to register for Pediatric HIV Nursing and Fighting HIV with Antiretroviral Therapy: Implementing the Treat-All Approach, and to keep informed about upcoming MOOC releases from Columbia. Enroll today!