Journal of IiME Volume 5 Issue 1 (May 2011) Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Education in the United States Testimony on CFS Education to the CFS Advisory Committee - 2009 Improved education regarding ME is at the heart of IiME aims. The poor quality if medical education in UK and the apathy of organizations such as the General Medical Council toward correct education regarding ME also has parallels in USA. Dr. Kenneth Friedman PhD is an outspoken advocate for better education and also a critic of the way education about ME/CFS is being performed in the USA. His testimony at the CFS Advisory Committee Meeting Friday, October 2009 was applauded by the ME community but it also cost Dr. Friedman. He subsequently lost his position as Associate Professor of Pharmacology & Physiology at University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey due to his continuing stand on improving education in the medical community about ME/CFS. Testimony for the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory Committee, Oct 30, 2009 by Kenneth J. Friedman, PhD Good morning! My name is Kenneth Friedman and I am a medical school professor. I have been asked by the IACFS/ME to comment upon the status of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome education in the United States. Comments on the Academic, Medical School Environment The Director of the Office of Ethics and Compliance of my employer has informed me that my off-campus activities related to CFS which include: testifying before this Committee, serving on this Committee, providing continuing medical education courses, establishing medical student scholarships and assisting with healthcare legislation are not part of my responsibilities as a University Professor. Invest in ME (Charity Nr. 1114035) I am told that I will be punished with a penalty as severe as termination of my employment for these activities. I am not a unique target. • Colleague Ben Natelson has left the same school. • A different medical school has refused to permit access to their medical students to discuss CFS or inform them of a medical student scholarship. • A statewide health care provider, with no physician capable of managing CFS patients, refuses to permit a CFS training session for their physicians. The failure of the CDC to convince the medical-academic establishment of the legitimacy of CFS, and the urgent need for its treatment, has created this environment. Comments on Medical Student Education High ranking officials of medical education have testified before this Committee that they are powerless to control the curriculum of medical schools, and cannot mandate the inclusion of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in the medical school curriculum. • Were the CDC to mandate the reporting of CFS to the Federal Government, as it does for other illnesses, the National Board of Medical Examiners would have no choice but to put CFS questions on the National Boards. • If CFS questions were to appear on National Board licensure examinations, medical schools would have no choice but to include CFS in their curriculum. I have appeared before this body on two separate occasions arguing for the use of existing student programs within both the NIH and the CDC to rotate medical students through NIH and CDC laboratories. I have Continued page 46 www.investinme.org Page 45/58
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