Please Support The Medical Training Program for Physicians at Setebaid Diabetes Camps
In the early 1990s, Dr. David Langdon, Medical Director Emeritus, realized Setebaid’s diabetes camps would be an ideal training ground for physicians to gain an understanding of what children with chronic conditions, like diabetes, need from their providers. While Camp Setebaid’s central goal was to provide an outdoor camping experience for children with diabetes which facilitates their social development and ameliorates the isolating effects of a chronic disease, it also provided a well-supervised environment for young physicians to see patients in a non-clinic, real-life setting.
Setebaid began conducting training programs at camp to increase the number of primary care and emergency physicians who are knowledgeable and comfortable with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). The long-term goal was to improve medical care for both children and adults with T1D in emergency departments, hospitals and clinics.
Today we continue the program by recruiting primary care and emergency residents, with nurse practitioner students and medical students for Setebaid diabetes camps each summer. As you probably remember, education during the week consists of an opportunity for supervised insulin management of children with diabetes, and for dealing with emergencies such as ketosis and hypoglycemia, combined with teaching sessions of 60-90 minutes every morning after breakfast. The curriculum for the teaching sessions always begins with a brief review of the pathophysiology of diabetes with emphasis on insulin replacement, ketosis, and hypoglycemia, but in the latter part of the week we tailor talks to the requests and interests of the residents. Typical topics are the varieties of diabetes, complication monitoring, comorbidities such as thyroid and celiac disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, and non-diabetic hypoglycemic disorders. In addition we have separate opportunities for those who are interested to get familiar with pumps and sensors, including a chance to wear these medical technology devices.
We are approaching those who participated in this training program and are asking you to help pay-it-forward and allow future students to attend this valuable training. Please support this continuation of Setebaid Services’ program for physicians in training. Thank you!