Health care providers will be able to attend a cancer survivorship training series thanks to a collaboration between the National Institutes of Health Federal Credit Union and the George Washington Cancer Institute.

The initiative recognizes $562 million NIHFCU in Rockville, Md., as the lead partner for GWCI's Center for the Advancement of Cancer Survivorship, Navigation and Policy. This includes a five-event lecture series and an online training series that will reach approximately 500 health care providers, including program executives, clinicians and students, the center and credit union said.

With the support of NIHFCU, the GW Cancer Institute said it will provide skills training to patient navigators to guide newly diagnosed cancer patients through what it describes as a “fragmented health care delivery system,” train program leaders to build patient-centered initiatives that best support survivors and their families, and launch an e-learning site for primary care providers to improve the infrastructure of survivorship care.

The initiative began on May 15 and will run through May 14, 2013. Other partners include the Pfizer Global Health Partnership Program, the DC Cancer Consortium, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Cancer Society.

Over the past year, NIHFCU has lent millions to local medical businesses and practices, said Juli Anne Callis, president/CEO of the credit union.

“Our partnership with the GWCI will help us to continue spreading the word about our support of today's biomedical professional and banking solutions designed to finance and maximize their professional pursuits,” Callis said in a statement.

Mandi Pratt-Chapman, associate director of community programs for GWCI, said the institute “is pleased to work with the premier credit union for health care professionals in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area to promote patient-centered care practices for a growing number of cancer survivors.”

NIHFCU serves more than 44,000 members.