Free Gastroenterology CME

This course contains two courses:

• Crohn’s Disease: Therapeutic Updates, Barriers to Care, and Emerging Therapies (1 hr CME)
• Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): A Global Approach to Quality Management and Barriers to Care in an Era of Resource Consciousness(1.25 hr CME)
• In order to get credit from ScientiaCME, you must first establish a username and password.

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals specializing in colon and rectal surgery, family medicine, internal medicine, gastroenterology, oncology, pain management, palliative care, primary care, proctology, and other clinicians who treat patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.

Short bowel syndrome (SBS) is a condition in which a patient exhibits malabsorption-induced diarrhea, dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and malnutrition due to decreased nutrient absorption that results from extensive surgical resection of the intestine or congenital defects. It is a form of intestinal failure (IF), which is defined as a need for supplementary parenteral or enteral nutrition when intestinal function is insufficient to meet the body’s nutritional requirements.

After reviewing Short Bowel Syndrome – updates from DDW 2018 physicians will better be able to:

• Describe current trends in the epidemiology of SBS
• List causes of SBS in pediatrics and adults
• Review the clinical manifestations and complications of SBS
• Summarize updates in medical management in SBS and apply them to patient cases
• Discuss surgical strategies in the management of SBS and apply them to patient cases

Target Audience: gastroenterologists and primary care physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice in gastroenterology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with Short Bowel Syndrom.

Chronic Idiopathic Constipation (CIC) discusses conventional therapies: bulking agents, softeners, stimulants, osmotics; recent additions and investigational agents: prucalopride, plecanatide, linaclotide, lubiprostone; non-pharmacologic therapies and their place relative to pharmacotherapy: dietary, mechanical, behavioral, and surgical interventions; biofeedback; and clinical pearls and difficult-to-treat cases.

After reviewing Chronic Idiopathic Constipation (CIC), you will be able to:
• Describe the pathophysiology of chronic idiopathic constipation
• Describe the benefits and risks of pharmacotherapy for chronic idiopathic constipation and take them into account when formulating a treatment plan for different patients
• Formulate an evidence-based treatment plan for a variety of patients with chronic idiopathic constipation.
• Recommend therapy changes in patients with chronic idiopathic constipation who do not respond to a previously prescribed treatment

Target Audience:
Gastroenterologists and primary care physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice in gastroenterology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with chronic idiopathic constipation.

Carcinoid Syndrome: Updates in Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment consists of a single lecture and discussion by Drs. Matthew H. Kulke and C. Metz.

After viewing Carcinoid Syndrome, you will be better able to:
• Summarize the cause of carcinoid syndrome
• Perform an appropriate workup and differential diagnosis from presenting symptoms
• Adopt evidence-based best practices in managing carcinoid syndrome, including strategies to address refractory or poorly controlled symptoms
• Evaluate safety and efficacy of current and emerging treatment approaches for carcinoid syndrome

Target Audiences:
This program is intended for US-based medical oncologists, endocrinologists and gastroenterologists, as well as oncology physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and nurses involved in the diagnosis and management of carcinoid tumors and carcinoid syndrome.

This free online CME course highlights Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) including causes, diagnosis, best treatment, and more.

Topics covered in this course include:

• IBS Epidemiology: prevalence/incidence in North America/globally, by age/sex
• Clinical features and diagnostic criteria of IBS-C
• Treatment of IBS-C
• IBS-C Patient case(s)

After completing this course, you will better be able to:

• Describe what is known about the etiology of IBS-C and its impact on patient clinical presentation
• Identify symptoms of IBS-C, describe their role in the diagnosis of the disorder, and list* any applicable lab and/or imaging studies that play a role in IBS-C diagnosis
• Evaluate treatments plans for patients with IBS-C and suggest appropriate therapies, where applicable, based on individual presentations
• Describe present and emerging drug therapies for management of IBS-C and apply them to patient cases
• Describe clinical and logistical challenges associated with treating and educating patients with IBS-C

Target audience: Gastroenterologists and primary care physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice in gastroenterology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with IBS-C.

IBD is a broad term that includes many different forms of inflammatory bowel conditions, the most common of which are ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease, the former of which exclusively affects the colon and rectum. Guidelines exist for the treatment of UC, but they are constantly changing to include updated information. Despite the plethora of guidelines available, there are issues surrounding guideline adherence by physicians, patient satisfaction, the quality of treatment and a patient’s QOL. Given the data from multiple studies that physicians are either not aware of updated practice guidelines or are not utilizing them, that this lack of knowledge is affecting patient satisfaction, and that there may be demographically-based barriers to care, educational activities are warranted to keep HCPs abreast of best practices in patients with UC. This activity has been designed to review treatment strategies, emerging therapies, and gaps in care of patients with UC.

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

• Describe long-term outcomes of UC patients with dysplasia who undergo endoscopic resection and surveillance and apply that information to a patient case
• Describe the effect of endoscopic and histologic remission as treatment targets
• Describe the risk of biologic therapy use in special populations, such as elderly and surgical patients and apply that information to a patient case
• Recall emerging data on biologic drug safety and efficacy

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals specializing in: gastroenterology, internal medicine, and those who otherwise commonly care for patients with UC.

Crohn’s disease (CD) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that is defined by a transmural process that often occurs in the terminal ileum but may occur in any portion of the GI tract. Although the exact etiology of CD is unknown, a handful of genetic, immunological, and environmental risk factors have been identified. Research suggests that in genetically susceptible patients, there is an impaired immune response to commensal or pathogenic intestinal microbiota that drives mucosal inflammation. The incidence of pediatric CD (pCD) is increasing around the globe, varying between 2.5 to 11.4 per 100,000, with an estimated prevalence of 58 per 100,000. Approximately 25% of patients are diagnosed with IBD before the age of 18. Intestinal and abdominal complications such as strictures, abscesses, and fistulas are common among pediatric patients and increase as the disease progresses. IBD impairs attendance at school, and psychosocial ramifications in children diagnosed with IBD incdude a higher incidence of depression and anxiety.

By the end of the session the participant will be able to:

• Describe differences between European and American approaches to pCD
• Identify the present nutritional and pharmacotherapeutic treatment options currently available for management of pCD and apply them to patient cases using evidence-based medicine
• Identify new and emerging approaches to and therapies for the treatment of pCD
• Evaluate a treatment plan for a specific patient based on severity of pCD to optimize safety and efficacy, suggesting modifications for improvement

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: pediatricians and pediatric gastroenterologists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with pCD.