Free Physician Assistant CME

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

Cultural competence has been defined in a variety of ways. According to the CDC, cultural competence is a “set of congruent behaviors, attitudes, and policies that come together in a system, agency, or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations.” In the setting of healthcare, practicing cultural competence can improve the ability of HCPs to meet the social, cultural, and linguistic needs of patients, which may ultimately improve health outcomes among diverse groups of patients with unique sociocultural identities including race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.

These observations illustrate not only that there is a gap in care related to the incorporation of cultural sensitivity into health care in the US but also that there are available solutions, and HCPs and their patients stand to benefit from provision of continuing education to address those needs.

Target Audience:

Physicians, pharmacists, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and other HCPs.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Pyruvate kinase (PK) is an enzyme that plays a major role in a metabolic pathway integral to the production of ATP, and a deficiency in the enzyme (PKD) is one of the most common enzyme-related glycolytic defects in a pathway integral to the production of ATP. It is transmitted as an autosomal recessive trait and is caused by mutations in the PKLR gene on chromosome 1, and over one hundred eighty of these mutations have been associated with PKD. While PKD affects approximately five people of European descent per 100,000 (data in other patient populations are lacking), it is one of the more frequent causes of chronic hemolysis. Anemia arising from the condition may range from mild and fully compensated to life-threatening in severity.

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals specializing in: hematology; nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists who specialize in hematology; and those who otherwise commonly care for or clinically encounter patients with PKD.