War Related Illness and Injury Study Center

Provider Training

In addition to providing research and clinical services, WRIISC’s education mission provides free training to Veterans and health care providers (both VA and non-VA), plus other government agencies, and community providers to ensure providers are trained on topics related to the health outcomes of military exposures.

Veterans have unique health concerns which may not exist within other populations. As a result, Providers who see and treat Veterans need a clinical understanding of the challenges Veterans increasingly face from potentially “toxic” military and deployment-related environmental exposures. Veterans often report the need for their VA and community providers to be more educated about these exposures. The VA is uniquely qualified to care for Veterans with health concerns related to potentially toxic exposures. All VA Providers should consider military and deployment exposures as core competencies. WRIISC recognizes this as imperative and in conjunction with the newly named VA Health Outcomes of Military Exposures (HOME) office has created a comprehensive curriculum with content focused on key exposure and other clinical deployment health topics.

NOTE: VA health care providers have access to our trainings using the Talent Management System (TMS), the learning platform recommended for VA employees. Health care providers both in and outside of VA can access WRIISC trainings through the
TRAIN Learning Network, a national learning management platform. All VA Providers should consider military and deployment exposures as a core competency.

American College of Preventative Medicine (ACPM) Exposure Education Certification Program for Providers

Clinical staff along with Environmental Exposure clinicians at the WRIISC worked with Health Outcomes Military Exposures (HOME) staff in partnership with the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM) to develop a certification program designed for VA and other government agency providers as well as community providers interested in learning more about Veteran military exposure concerns.

Exposures among those deployed remain a concern among Veterans. They expect their providers to know about deployment related exposure concerns and conditions.

This certification program will provide clinicians with military environmental exposure training so they can independently assess and evaluate a Veteran who has military environmental exposure concerns and answer any questions the Veteran may have about specific military exposures.

Providers can now receive a Level 1 certification and continuing medical education credits upon successful completion of WRIISCs 5 E-learning modules and passing a comprehensive exam. An advanced level certification will be developed in the near future. Stay tuned!

More information on these exciting certifications can be found here: Military Environmental Exposures Certification | ACPM

E-LEARNING MODULES

Five WRIISC e-learning modules serve as the core clinical education on exposure-related topics and are key and high priority learning for all VA primary care providers. Each foundational module is available to VA and Community providers and offers 1.5 of free CEU’s.

Module	Title	Description	Register on TMS	Register on TRAIN
	Assessing Deployment Related Environmental Exposures (1.5 CEUs)	Intends to increase clinician knowledge and to inform learners about how to recognize the role and importance of deployment related exposure assessment, identify steps for determining deployment related environmental exposures, provide available post deployment health resources, and describe approaches to communicating deployment related exposure issues to Veterans, their caregivers, and their family members. Mandatory Training for VHA/VBA Compensation and Pension Providers & VHA Clinicians	ID: 33195	ID: 1070234
	Airborne Hazards (1.5 CEUs)	Provides clinicians with the knowledge needed to identify and understand deployment-related airborne hazards concerns of Veterans.	ID: 33405	ID: 1070422
	Gulf War Illness (1.5 CEUs)	Provides health care providers with the knowledge needed to identify, diagnose, manage and appropriately treat Gulf War illness in Veterans and to become familiar with and be able to apply the VA-DoD Clinical Practice Guideline for Chronic Multi Symptom Illness as it can be applied to Gulf War Illness.	ID: 34572	ID: 1074205
	Chronic Multisymptom Illness (1.5 CEUs)	Offers healthcare professionals an opportunity to gain insight into chronic multi-symptom illness including the incidence in civilian and military populations, defining characteristics and the latest resources and management strategies to consider for care.	ID: 38029	ID: 1084440
	Depleted Uranium and Toxic Embedded Fragments (1.5 CEUs)	Provides health care professionals with knowledge about the current research on health effects in Depleted Uranium or DU-exposed (Pronounced D-U) populations, information about enrolling Veterans with suspected DU or toxic embedded fragments (TEF) fragments into VA registry programs, and guidance about the clinical approach to Veterans with TEF.	ID: 39365	ID: 1087697

Live and Recorded Webinars

The WRIISC offers a free accredited annual webinar series for health care providers. Webinars reflect current best practices, science and policies, are categorized into clinical specialty areas, or “Collections” and provide introductory, intermediate and advanced level training to increase learning.

The webinar series was originally accredited under the WRIISC-PDHS in TRAIN/TMS. Reaccreditation of these webinars may occur under the new name WRIISC-HOME.

To see a list of all webinars on TRAIN, click here. If you have difficulty accessing a training, please contact njwriiscedteam@va.gov

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