Free CME

Scientia CME Neuropsychiatry – Psychiatry contains two additional lectures:

• Improving the Treatment and Management of Schizophrenia: An Overview of Current and Novel Approaches (1 hr CME)
• Major Depressive Disorders (MDD): Best Practice And The Role Of Novel Therapies (1 hr CME)

Target Audience: Psychiatrists

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a highly contagious pathogen belonging to the Pneumoviridae family that circulates seasonally with other respiratory viruses. The majority of the population is exposed to RSV, but children under the age of two years and older adults are at the greatest risk of significant morbidity and mortality. RSV infections are responsible for approximately 60-80% of pediatric bronchiolitis and 40% of pediatric pneumonia cases and are a major cause of global hospitalization and mortality. Almost 70% of children are exposed to RSV during their first year of life, and 90% are exposed within their first two years, resulting in an estimated 427,000 emergency department visits and 1.6 million pediatrician visits annually.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: Obstetricians, pediatricians, and family medicine physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, pharmacists specializing in pediatrics; and any other HCPs involved or interested in the management of RSV in infants and high-risk children.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:

Systemic mastocytosis (SM) is a heterogeneous group of disorders caused by proliferation of abnormal clonal mastocytes, which accumulate in the skin and/or other organ systems. Mastocytosis, including SM, was reclassified as a distinct disease subtype in 2016, when the World Health Organization (WHO) removed mastocytosis from the myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN) group. The WHO defines 5 SM subtypes, ranging from indolent SM, which is associated with mild symptoms and near-normal life expectancy, to mast cell leukemia, which is an aggressive hematologic malignancy associated with median survival of less than 1 year.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: hematology/oncology specialists, allergists, and clinical immunologists, dermatologists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in those areas of specialty; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who may clinically encounter patients with systemic mastocytosis.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:

Melanoma is a tumor of the melanocytes primarily occurring in the skin. The fifth most common cancer in the U.S., it occurs in over 970,000 people annually and is attributable to over 7,900 deaths each year. The five-year survival rate from diagnosis overall is 80% to 99% for patients with early stages of the disease, depending on tumor thickness. However, in patients in whom the disease that has spread to adjacent lymph nodes or tissues, the five-year survival drops to 71%, and for those with distant metastases (five percent of cases are diagnosed at this stage), the five-year survival is 32%, representing an area of ongoing clinical need.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: medical oncologists and dermatologists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in oncology; and any other HCPs with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with malignant melanoma.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:

Health disparities are defined as “preventable differences in the burden of disease, injury, violence, or opportunities to achieve optimal health that are experienced by populations that have been disadvantaged by their social or economic status, geographic location, and environment.” According to the landmark 2002 report by the Institute of Medicine, Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care, even when access-related factors are accounted for, racial and ethnic minorities receive a lower quality of health care than White patients. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality also releases an annual National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report showing White patients receive a better quality of care and experience better health outcomes compared to non-Whites.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: physicians, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, and any other clinician involved in providing patient care.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Gaucher disease (GD) is characterized by a deficiency of the lysosomal enzyme glucocerebrosidase, resulting in the accumulation of sphingolipids throughout the body but most manifesting prominently in the bones. GD is subcategorized based on clinical features: type 1 GD is the non-neuronopathic form and affects mainly the inner organs, while types 2 and 3 are the acute and sub-acute neuropathic forms, whose pathology manifests predominantly within central nervous system. GD has an estimated prevalence of 0.70 to 1.75 per 100 000 in the general population, it affects individuals of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage in significantly higher numbers. One of the first of GD’s complications is the chronic anemia and a persistent bleeding risk. Another is the hepatosplenomegaly, which may be a part of the initial clinical presentation, as may the anatomical abnormalities of bone deformities and stunted growth.

This learning activity has been designed to bring healthcare professionals’ knowledge of the strategies for treatment and management of GD up to date and to improve their competence and performance in treating it.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: Pediatricians, neurologists, endocrinologists, and primary care physicians; physician assistants and nurse practitioners in those areas of specialty; pharmacists who practice in specialty pharmacies that treat patients with rare diseases; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who may clinically encounter patients with GD.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Thalassemias belong to a group of recessively inherited blood disorders characterized by little or no hemoglobin production and chronic anemia of varying severity. Alpha-thalassemia (AT) is most commonly found in people of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African descent. Worldwide, 5% of people are AT carriers, with a much higher prevalence in certain regions (eg, up to 23% in Southeast Asia). AT is typically caused by deletions of one or more α-globin genes, of which there are 4 in total, leading to reduced or abolished α-globin production; nondeletional forms of AT can also occur and are generally more severe. The loss of functional α-globin disrupts the globin chain equilibrium, leading to excess γ- and β-globin chain formation and causing ineffective erythropoiesis.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: hematologists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in hematology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who may clinically encounter patients with AT.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Hemophilia is a genetic disease caused by mutation of one of the genes for coagulation proteins leading to dangerous, uncontrolled bleeding. In hemophilia B, a mutation in the gene for factor IX (FIX) leads to an endogenous deficiency in the clotting factor. The incidence of hemophilia B is the same in all geographic regions, populations, and ethnic groups, affecting approximately 1 out of every 30,000 male births. The condition is diagnosed by measuring FIX activity, and patients with severe hemophilia have levels of 1% or less. Patients with severe hemophilia B are at risk for spontaneous, life-threatening bleeding episodes. Untreated, the life expectancy is approximately 20 years, and painful or even life-threatening morbidities include: intracranial hemorrhage, severe bleeding in other organ systems, musculoskeletal injury, and joint injury. In contrast, in people with moderate or mild hemophilia, abnormal bleeding usually occurs after minor trauma or surgery. Unfortunately, the literature shows that not only do clinicians struggle with the classification of hemophilia severity and that there are gaps in knowledge present that contribute to delayed diagnosis and treatment, with an attendant increase in morbidity and mortality. Challenges in diagnosis and classification are only the first of several gaps in care that patients with hemophilia face.

Target Audience:

The following HCPs: hematologists and pediatricians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in hematology, and other HCPs who practice in hemophilia treatment center; and any other clinicians with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with hemophilia B.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:
In this online, self-learning activity:

Familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) is an ultrarare genetic disease characterized by the buildup of chylomicrons – the largest lipoprotein – as a result of loss of function of one of five genes responsible for lipolysis. Its estimated prevalence is one in one million people and affects patients of all ages. The clinical presentation of FCS varies but includes patients with triglyceride (TG) levels over 10 times and up to a hundred-fold times the upper limit of normal. Complications include eruptive xanthomas on the trunk and extremities, lipemia retinalis, recurrent abdominal pain, hepatosplenomegaly, fatigue, cognitive disorientation, organ failure, necrosis, and pancreatitis, the latter of which is associated with a five- to 30-percent mortality rate in patients affected by FCS. Unfortunately, due in part to the rarity of the condition, patients are commonly undiagnosed, even by endocrinologists.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: endocrinologists, cardiologists, and primary care physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in the aforementioned areas of specialty; and those who otherwise have an interest in or commonly care for or clinically encounter patients with FCS.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

Clostridioides difficile (formerly known as Clostridium difficile) is a gram-positive obligate anaerobe that produces exotoxins in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract resulting in watery, loose stool, abdominal pain, and nausea. The U.S. incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) is about half a million people, with 28% community-acquired, 37% healthcare-associated, and 36% associated with long-term care facilities. Additionally, CDI has incurred one billion dollars in costs to the U.S. healthcare system. Antibiotic exposure causes changes to the GI microflora and increases the risk of developing CDI, which is especially seen in carbapenems, third-/fourth- generation cephalosporins, clindamycin, and fluoroquinolone use. Other risk factors include acid suppressive therapy; age; prolonged hospitalizations or other recent healthcare exposure; recent tube feeding or GI surgery; and immunocompromised states, including recent chemotherapy.

Target Audience:

HCPs including: infectious diseases physicians, gastroenterologists, hospitalists, and intensivists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in the aforementioned areas of specialty; and any other HCPs with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with CDI.