Physician Assistant CME Courses
Physician Assistant CME Courses
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. While a majority of patients are diagnosed before their disease has metastasized, a fifth of patients have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis. Early detection and screening have been shown to significantly reduce CRC mortality, and screening is widely recommended for average-risk adults beginning at age 50 years, (as well as earlier for individuals at higher risk). Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, American Cancer Society, and other groups have recommended several modalities for screening: fecal occult blood testing (FOBT), flexible sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, and barium enema. Recent years have seen the addition of newer screening technologies, including stool DNA, computed tomographic colonography, and capsule endoscopy.
By the end of the session the participant will be able to:
- Describe present the current practice guideline recommendations with respect to colorectal cancer screening, including colonoscopy preparation, and apply them to patient cases
- Identify the treatment modalities currently available for management of mCRC and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine
- Evaluate a treatment plan for a specific patient with mCRC to optimize safety, efficacy, and tolerability, suggesting modifications for improvement
- Describe the challenges and barriers to care associated with treating patients with mCRC
Multiple myeloma (MM) is a hematologic malignancy of the lymphocytes. All cases are marked by monoclonal gammopathy, and while the true cause is unknown, associated factors are thought to include: radiation, genetics, viral infections, and the human immunodeficiency virus. Helping the clinician discern the role of each of the first-line and more novel therapies, including monoclonal antibodies and proteasome, deacetylase, and 3 serine/threonine protein kinase inhibitor therapies – among others – based on the most up-to-date research merits continuing education programming in MM.
By the end of the session the participant will be able to:
- Recall updates in the staging, prognosis, and diagnosis of MM.
- Distinguish between the most appropriate treatment approaches to MM and apply them to practice, taking into account the following: treatment modalities and the recent clinical trial evidence supporting them.
- Distinguish between the most appropriate treatment approaches to MM and apply them to practice, taking into account the following: evidence-based treatment guidelines, algorithms, and expert opinion.
- Summarize the risk-benefit profiles of current and emerging therapies for the treatment of MM.
By the end of the session the participant will be able to:
- Describe the epidemiology of AUD and outline current and evolving diagnostic criteria
- Describe challenges to the successful identification of patients with AUD
- Identify the treatment modalities currently available for management of AUD and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine
- Develop strategies for recognizing and improving therapeutic adherence in patients treated for AUD
Alcohol use disorder (AUD), referred to colloquially as alcoholism, is an integration of past terms that have include in past as alcohol dependence or abuse, and may be marked by any one of a number of different symptoms or behaviors that include physical cravings, compulsion, guilt, and frequent consumption over an extended period of time. There are about 7.9 million people in the United States who suffer from the disease, but a fraction – 2.2 million people – seek treatment for it. The number of people who are considered heavy drinkers is about double at somewhere between 15.9 and 17.6 million, and just under a quarter of Americans over age 12 reports having engaged in binge drinking at least once in the last month. Alcohol accounts for over 687,000 emergency department visits by people under age 20 per year, and AUD is estimated to cost $223.5 billion per year. Worldwide, 76.3 million people are estimated to have AUDs, and they account for an annual mortality rate of 1.8 million. AUD is largely undertreated, constituting one gap in care and justifying CME
Some have suggested that criteria used for the past two decades are inadequate for addressing the disease burden of RA because by the time a physician detects rheumatoid nodules or radiographic erosion, the optimal time has passed for treatment initiation, representing a gap in care relating to diagnosis of disease. Another potential gap is illustrated by studies in which researchers demonstrated that a systematic, objective approach to therapy with Disease Activity Score-driven therapy yields superior outcomes to routine care.
By the end of the session the participant will be able to:
- Describe the pathophysiology of RA such that it might inform treatment mechanisms.
- Describe professional guideline recommendations’ approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of RA and, where applicable, apply them to patient cases
- Identify the currently available and emerging pharmacotherapeutic treatments for management of RA and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine.
- Evaluate a treatment plan for a specific patient with RA to optimize safety and efficacy, suggesting modifications for improvement, including the management of comorbidities.
- Describe the challenges and barriers to care associated with treating patients with RA.