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Department of Pediatrics Heersink School of Medicine

Dr. Dixon's Presentation Information

Dr. Karen Dixon received her BS in biology and chemistry from Rockford College, in Rockford, IL in 1995 and her PhD in biochemistry and molecular genetics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 2004. Currently, Dr. Dixon is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at UAB, the Assistant Director of Program Development for the Civitan International Research Center, the Consumer Coordinator for the Civitan-Sparks Clinics, and the family faculty for the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disorders (LEND) training program.

She is a co-founder and current president of Parents of Infants and Children with Kernicterus, a parent advocacy organization, and is the parent of a 17-year-old son with kernicterus. Her personal experience and conversations with hundreds of families have given her insight into strategies for improving partnerships and family-centered care.

Dr. Dixon has worked with federal health care agencies, patient safety organizations, professional organizations, and medical and scientific experts on a public education campaign on the prevention of severe hyperbilirubinemia and kernicterus launched in the spring of 2007.

Dr. Dixon is on the Alabama Council on Developmental Disabilities and is a member of the advisory board for the Alabama Disabilities Advocacy Program. She is also a member of the Executive Committee for the External Partners Group for the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities at the CDC.

Presentation Objective

At the conclusion of this presentation, participants should be able to...

  • delineate the philosophy and principles of patient- and family-centered care.
  • incorporate strategies for improving individual provider and patient/family partnerships into practice (micro-level change).
  • define and implement the steps necessary for systems change towards patient- and family-centered care (macro-level change).
Disclosure Statement
The faculty has no significant financial interest or other relationship with the manufacturers of any commercial products and/or providers of commercial services discussed in this education presentation and no unlabeled product uses are discussed.
 
Accreditation

The Heersink School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Heersink School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The boards of nursing in many states, including  Alabama, recognize Category 1 continuing medical education courses as acceptable activities for the renewal of license to practice nursing.

Many state boards for respiratory therapy, including Alabama, recognize Category 1 continuing medical education courses as acceptable activities for the renewal of licenses to practice respiratory therapy.