Country-Wide Capacity Building Model in Gestational Diabetes Management for Primary Care Physicians in India

Background: Pregnancies complicated by GDM have fourfold increased risk of perinatal mortality and has a long-term health impact, with more than 50% of women with GDM going on to develop type 2 diabetes within 5-10 years of delivery. In India an estimated 4 million women have GDM. Aims: The aim of this abstract is to highlight the components of a PAN India training model specifically designed to enhance the knowledge, skills, and core competencies of Primary Care Physicians (PCPs) in the management of GDM. Methodology: Addressing the issue of dearth of trained professionals in specialised area like gestational diabetes by building the capacity of primary care physicians is an important strategy towards improving GDM management. A four modular course was developed jointly by Public Health Foundation of India and Dr.Mohan’s Diabetes Education Academy to train primary care physicians with strong course curriculum, vetted and approved by the eminent panel of national experts constituting of eminent endocrinologists and gynaecologists. Result: Certificate Course in Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (CCGDM) has trained 3200 participants and covered 26 states, 3 Union Territories, 257 districts and 437 cities in the last 4 cycles. This model has been adopted by four state governments for training their medical officers. Out of the trained participants, 52% were post- graduates and 39% belonged to Government sector. The robust monitoring mechanism and precise certification method led to 90% pass percentage and 92% of trained physicians claimed that it helped them in better diagnosis, timely referral and management of GDM patients with significant knowledge improvement. Conclusion: Focusing on GDM by training PCPs is a low-cost intervention both to improve maternal and child health as well as to prevent future diabetes. CCGDM is a well- defined progressive training model to build capacity among doctors in GDM Management and has the potential to be adopted by low income countries.