In this podcast episode, Isolde Butler, MD, MPH, a healthcare professional caring for people living with HIV, and Marissa Gonzalez, an individual living with HIV, discuss strategies to improve healthcare professionals’ competencies in delivering optimal HIV care from the start to better support patients in overcoming barriers to sustained care engagement.The topics they discuss include: An introduction to the guidelines on ART initiation—start quickly and choose the therapy that is effective and tolerableThe patient experience, from initial diagnosis to treatment selection, noting that where people get diagnosed matters in determining the level of support they will receiveThe complete HIV care team: healthcare professionals, navigators, case managers, behavioral health providers, mental health providers, and so on. Smaller clinics may not be able to provide adequate support to meet all patient needsHow to navigate the first visit after an HIV diagnosis, including patient–provider treatment discussions on the available therapies that can help with stigmaHIV stigma education; navigating the miseducation and misinformationPresenters:Isolde F. Butler, MD, MPHChief Medical OfficerCresentcareNew Orleans, LouisianaMarissa GonzalezChairCommunity Advisory BoardThe Well ProjectLink to full program:https://bit.ly/3TqVnl1