Online CME: Allergy/Immunology

American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI)
Last visited...4/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...About 50 activities offering about 60 hours (not counted)
Awarded by....ACAAI.
Cost for Credit....2009 Meeting: $249; other activities free,
Instruction Type....Podcast, Vodcast (video podcast), Slide-Video Lecture.
Target Audience...ALLG, PULM.
Educational material last updated....2009.
Financial support...Various pharmaceutical companies.

Many presentations from the ACAAI's 2009 Annual Meeting are available as Webcasts (about 45 webcasts, probably one hour each, $249). There is one free 2009 presentation, Critical Challenges in Allergic Diseases: Optimizing Outcomes in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis and Urticaria, 1.5 hours.
Three free presentations from the 2008 ACAAI Annual Meeting are available as podcasts or "vodcasts" (2.0 hour each). Topics include: Update in Hereditary Angioedema: A Disease in Rapid Evolution; Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) for Allergic Rhinitis: The Latest Evidence; and Advances in Hereditary Angioedema Treatment: Considerations, Criteria & the New Therapy Options for Treatment & Prevention of HAE Attacks. Another 25 (approximately) webcasts from the 2008 Meeting are available, but credit has probably expired).

Asthma IQ (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)
Last visited....3/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...20.
Awarded by....American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).
Cost for Credit.....Free.
Instruction Type....Performance Improvement.
Target Audiences....ALLG, PULM.
Educational material last updated...2008.
Financial Support...None Stated.

The “Asthma Specialist Tool to Help Manage Asthma and Improve Quality” (ASTHMA IQ) will help clinicians to: use evidence-based medicine to make treatment decisions; graph and report patients’ asthma status over time; analyze statistics for the asthma patients in their practice; report quality improvement measures for Maintenance of Certification or Pay for Performance. This course is available only to AAAAI members or upon invitation.

Cleveland Clinic Allergy and Immunology
Last visited...3/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...3 activities offering a total of 2.25 hours.
Awarded by....Cleveland Clinic.
Cost...........Free.
Instruction Type...Slide-Video Lecture, Text-Only.
Target Audiences.... ALLG, PULM.
Educational material last updated....2009.
Financial Support...None Stated.

Three activities: Online Case-Based Lesson: Asthma; Online Journal - Treating silent reflux disease does not improve poorly controlled asthma; and Online Webcast - Defending the Integrity of the Biomedical Literature.

CMELogix (National Jewish Medical and Research Center)
Last visited...3/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...7 courses offering 0.8 to 2.0 hours (total of 8 hours).
Awarded by....National Jewish Medical and Research Center.
Cost...........Most are Free, except ==>
Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics (pdf).
Target Audiences.... PULM, ALLG.
Educational material last updated....2009.
Financial Support...Multiple pharmaceutical companies.

You will find these activities: Diagnosing, Managing and Treating COPD; Excessive Daytime Sleepiness: Recognition, Diagnosis, and Treatment; MEDSCI Update: The New Era of Personalized Medicine; MEDSCI Update: Food Allergies - Principles and Practices; The Asthma Connection Vol. 2, Spring 2009: The Stepwise Approach to Asthma Management; Obesity and Asthma - Cause or Effect; and Highlights from the 31st Annual NJH Update on Allergy and Respiratory Diseases.

Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) Online CME Program (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)
Last visited...3/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours....About 46 articles and quizzes each offering 1.0 credit.
Awarded by....AAAAI.
Cost for Credit....Free.
Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics.
Target Audiences...ALLG, PULM.
Educational material last updated....2010.
Financial Support...None Stated.

Some recent articles and quizzes include: The role of pharmacogenomics in improving the management of asthma; Lessons learned from variation in response to therapy in clinical trials; An update on the genetics of atopic dermatitis: Scratching the surface in 2009; Recent insights into atopic dermatitis and implications for management of infectious complications; Autoinflammation: The prominent role of IL-1 in monogenic autoinflammatory diseases and implications for common illnesses; and Therapy of autoinflammatory syndromes.

Medscape Allergy and Immunology
Last visited...6/2010.
Credit hours...Varies from time to time.
Awarded by....Medscape and many other sponsoring organizations.
Cost...........Free.
Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics, Text-Only, Slide-Audio Lecture, Slide-Video Lecture and Case-Based-Interactive.
Target Audiences....ALLG.
Educational material last updated...New activities posted daily.
Financial Support...Many academic, specialty, and commercial sources as well as self-supported by Medscape.
Expiration of CME Credit...Credit for most activities expires one year after posting.

CME activities of special interest to allergists and immunologists. Medscape contains a variety of educational formats:
CONFERENCE COVERAGE - Reports of advances presented at major medical conferences; typically includes several tracks with news stories, expert interviews, and in-depth topic overviews.
CLINICAL UPDATE - Comprehensive original review article on scientific advances in a clinical topic.
FAST TRACK CLINICAL UPDATE – Narrowly focused original review article on scientific advances in a clinical topic.
CME-LIVE - Real-time online events with streaming video, synchronized visuals, and interactive questions and answers; archived for 1 year.
CLINICAL BRIEFS - Daily reports of major current medical research articles; 0.25 credits each
JOURNAL CME - Articles selected from a wide selection of peer-reviewed journals.
SPECIAL REPORT CME – Topic-based monthly email newsletter distributed to Medscape’s professional member database by specialty.
INTERACTIVE PATIENT CASES – Original CME activity presented to the physician in an interactive, clinical case-based format. (See especially eMedicine CME Case Presentations.)
CME CIRCLE – Multimedia content certified by other accredited professional education providers, typically from live symposia or monographs, and then posted on Medscape and archived for one year.

Last Updated August 22, 2010