HealthForumOnline's Continuing Education Director Joins Fox Chase Cancer Center's Psychiatry Team
HealthForumOnline's cofounder and Director of Online Continuing Education, Dr. Michelle Rodoletz has joined the Department of Psychiatry at Fox Chase Cancer Center (FCCC). FCCC's appointment of Dr. Rodoletz as an Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist is a natural choice as the focus of HealthForumOnline's nationally-approved online CE courses for psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses, and other allied health professionals is on health psychology and behavioral medicine, such as enhancing psychological adjustment to cancer in general and within specific disease sites (e. g., breast cancer, prostate cancer, ovarian cancer), finding meaning in illness, facilitating treatment-related decisions in the cancer context, group therapy models for cancer patients and other health-related topics. This appointment marks Dr. Rodoletz's return to FCCC where she was formerly the Associate Director of Psychosocial Behavioral Medicine before cofounding HealthForumOnline in 2005. In her new position at FCCC, Dr. Rodoletz will provide patients and their caregivers with theory and evidence-based cognitive-behavorial interventions aimed at enhancing their ability to cope with cancer across the disease continuum.
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) December 16, 2009
HealthForumOnline's (http://www. healthforumonline. com/) cofounder and Director of Online Continuing Education, Michelle Rodoletz, Ph. D., has joined Fox Chase Cancer Center as an Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry. At Fox Chase, Dr. Rodoletz (http://www. fccc. edu/physicians/psychiatry/rodoletz. html) will provide patients and their caregivers with theory and evidence-based psychological interventions aimed at enhancing their ability to cope with cancer across the disease continuum. In particular, the cognitive-behavioral therapy that she practices has shown to be effective in stress management and in reducing the symptoms of depression and/or anxiety that are common in the cancer context.
Dr. Rodoletz has a long-standing background in health psychology, also known as behavioral medicine, which focuses on promoting health-related behaviors and enhancing the psychological adaptation to medical illness. In fact, her alliance with FCCC began in 1995 when she came to FCCC as a Research Assistant after earning her Ph. D. in Clinical Psychology from Temple University. Prior to leaving FCCC in 2005 to establish HealthForumOnline with another former FCCC researcher Dr. Laura Stanton, Dr. Rodoletz held the position of Associate Director of the Psychosocial and Behavioral Medicine Program at FCCC.
Returning now to Fox Chase, Dr. Rodoletz remains the Director of Online Continuing Education at HealthForumOnline, a nationally-approved (American Psychological Association, Association of Social Work Boards, National Board of Certified Counselors, Pennsylvania State Nurses Association, California Board of Behavorial Sciences) (http://www. healthforumonline. com/Accreditations/44/) online provider of continuing education (CE) for psychologists, social workers, counselors, nurses and other allied healthcare professionals. Her appointment as Assistant Professor and Clinical Psychologist is a natural choice for FCCC and she notes that, "the focus of HealthForumOnline's CE courses for health professionals dovetails FCCC's overarching goal of reducing the burden of cancer for patients and their families." For example, HealthForumOnline's extensive online CE course library (http://www. healthforumonline. com/Our-Courses/16/) provides health professionals with easily accessible and cost-effective information that enables them to assist their patients and their caregivers in coping with acute and/or chronic illness. Specifically, HealthForumOnline's CE library includes a section on cancer adaptation (http://www. healthforumonline. com/Our-Courses/16/categoryId__2/) with titles such as Cancer in the Couple: Clinical and Ethical Considerations within the Dyad, Discussing Fertility Preservation with Newly Diagnosed Cancer Patients: Implications for Quality of Life, Enhancing Adaptation to Ovarian Cancer: A Clinician's Guide, Group Interventions for Cancer Patients, Prostate Cancer: Psychosocial Issues and Methods of Promoting Adaptation, Psychological Care of the Breast Cancer Patient, The Psychological Care of the Cancer Patient: Coping Across the Cancer Spectrum, and The Psychosocial Needs of Women Undergoing Genetic Counseling and Testing for BRCA.
Fox Chase Cancer Center is one of the leading cancer research and treatment centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation's first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center's nursing program has received the Magnet status for excellence three consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach.
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