ScientiaCME Free CME Courses

Target Audience: Physicians focusing on Infectious Diseases. 

Target Audience: Neurologists

Target Audience: Physicians focusing on Pain Management

Target Audience: Physicians focusing on Allergy or Dermatology

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

The WHO defines vaccine hesitancy (VH) as a “delay in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite the availability of vaccination services.” Despite substantial progress in rates of routine immunization over the decades prior to the most recent one, more recent trends suggest that immunization rates are beginning to plateau. Beyond VH and skepticism, there is also the embrace of outright vaccine rejection or denial fostered by the presence disinformation on conventional and social media platforms including claims that vacines are unsafe or unnecessary. Recent outbreaks of largely eradicated diseases such as measles, mumps, and diphtheria suggest that herd immunity may have suffered, putting those ineligible for vaccination at additional risk of infection. These developments have been attributed in part to VH and denial.

One large group with increasing VH is parents. A 2019 national survey found that approximately 1 in 4 parents reported serious concerns towards vaccinating their children. Another study saw that in up to 35% parents of well-vaccinated children demonstrate VH. Parents may raise issues that many providers feel ill-equipped to answer, due to lack of thorough knowledge of all vaccines or lack of evidence-based communication strategies. Unfortunately, only few evidence-based strategies exist to guide providers in their discussions with vaccine-hesitant parents.

Providers play a crucial role in vaccinating populations, but it is not and should not be their sole responsibility. Clinical practice sites, community organizations, health organizations, and government all contribute to addressing VH. Understanding potential solutions outside the office, such as media campaigns and policy changes, also provide insight into vaccine hesitancy and potential directions for future use.

Target Audience:

The following HCPs: Primary care physicians, pediatricians, and public health professionals; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, nurses, and pharmacists who practice in adult internal medicine and pediatrics; and any other clinicians who commonly encounter patients eligible for protection against vaccine-preventable diseases.

In this online, self-learning activity:

Osteoporosis is characterized by low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissues, which leads to an increased risk of skeletal fractures. Although osteoporosis is generally considered as a women’s health issue and often overlooked problem in men, osteoporosis in men is also an important public health issue, and its prevalence is increasing as the general population ages – rising to 11% in men by age 80. Around 1-2 million men in the United States have been estimated to have clinical osteoporosis, and an additional 8-13 million men identified to have low bone mass. In sum, 35% of men are considered to have low bone density by age 50, and that number rises to 53% by age 80.

This program has been designed to bring HCPs’ knowledge of the rationale behind prevention and treatment of male osteoporosis up to date and to improve their competence and performance in treating and preventing it.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online CME self-learning activity:

Osteoporosis is a disease common among elderly patients and is increasing in frequency as senior citizens begin to represent a larger share of the US population. In the US, fragility fractures are associated with 1.7 million hospitalizations, and the number of annual of osteoporotic fractures is expected to rise to three million annually in the next few years, with annual treatment costs expected to be $25.3 billion. Despite the morbidity and mortality associated with osteoporosis, practice gaps related to suboptimal screening, risk assessment, and management practices have led to underdiagnosis and undertreatment of this condition.

Osteoporosis screening may identify people at increased risk of low-trauma fracture who may benefit from interventions to minimize risk. The USPSTF recommends screening for osteoporosis with BMD testing in all women 65 years or older and in postmenopausal women younger than 65 years but at increased risk of osteoporosis. Risk for osteoporosis should be determined by a formal clinical measurement tool, such as FRAX™, which assesses 10-year fracture risk. Diagnosis of osteoporosis can be made based on the history of fragility fracture or with a T score of 2.5 SD or more below the young adult mean BMD.

However, the literature has consistently illustrated underutilization of screening and diagnostic measures. Clinicians should be aware that prior fragility fracture is sufficient for diagnosis of osteoporosis, and yet only one-quarter of patients with a prior fragility fracture were aware they had this condition. Underdiagnosis therefore represents a compelling safety consideration, as 20% of patients become dependent on long-term care after a hip fracture, and 20% die within a year from related complications. Because these outcomes represent significant quality and safety considerations, a number of national quality measures that are strongly supported by the evidence have been developed to address shortcomings in care. 

Target Audience:

HCPs specializing in endocrinology, internal medicine, geriatrics, and women’s health; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in those areas of specialty; and those who otherwise commonly care for or clinically encounter patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis.

In this online, self-learning activity:

Von Willebrand disease (vWD) is the most common congenital bleeding disorder worldwide. Affecting both male and female births in equal number, vWD is caused by a deficiency or defect in the von Willebrand factor (vWF) glycoprotein, which is responsible for mediating platelet and coagulation factor VIII function. vWD types 1 and 3 are caused by quantitative deficiencies in vWF. In contrast, type 2 vWD is caused by a qualitative defect in the production of vWF. Type 1 is the most common type of vWD, accounting for 60% to 70% of cases, followed by type 2, which is diagnosed in 25% to 30% of patients. Type 3 vWD, the rarest form, affects about 1 in 1,000,000 people. There is evidence that the use of factor VIII/vWF concentrates should be individualized, but no recent vWD guidelines address this issue. Although DDAVP is the treatment of choice for most type 1 vWD patients, data do not support the use of DDAVP for type 2B vWD owing in part to an increased risk for thrombocytopenia. Another practice gap is a lack of guidance around the appropriate ages at which patients with severe vWD are optimally initiated on vWF prophylaxis. Furthermore, although DDAVP is not contraindicated in pregnancy, 31% of physicians consider DDAVP a contraindication according to the results of one survey, illustrating a present area of controversy in practice.

Target Audience:

The following healthcare professionals: Hematologists and primary care physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in hematology; and any other healthcare professionals with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with vWD.

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

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, including an impaired immune response to commensal or pathogenic intestinal microbiota that drives mucosal inflammation in patients who are genetically susceptible.

Intestinal and abdominal complications such as strictures, abscesses, and fistulas are common among pediatric patients and increase as the disease progresses. Vitamin and mineral deficiencies have also been attributed to IBD due to mucosal inflammation in the gut, low oral intake, and malnutrition resulting in complications such as poor bone health, delayed puberty, anemia, and stunted growth. The annual direct healthcare costs – accounting for the majority of costs in the U.S. – are about $18,000 to $19,000 per patient. CD shares a number of clinical characteristics with other disease states, and initial misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis of pCD are not uncommon, which may have a dramatic impact on a patient’s clinical course because pCD is often more severe and associated with a higher incidence of complications than adult CD.

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

Target Audience:

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

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online, self-learning activity:

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is among the most common disorders seen by primary care as well as gastroenterology specialty clinics. Patients with IBS usually present with chronic abdominal pain and altered bowel habit, in the absence of any other disease to cause these sorts of symptoms. The disorder is associated with annual healthcare expenditures of $20 billion and significant costs in lost work productivity and health-related quality-of-life.

Although not uncommon, there is still much that is unknown about IBS-C, and its diagnosis has largely remained dependent on symptom-based criteria with their share of limitations.

This activity has been designed to update HCPs’ knowledge of IBS-C and to improve their competence and performance in treating it.

Target Audience:

The following HCPs: Gastroenterologists and primary care physicians; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists who practice in gastroenterology; and any other HCPs with an interest in or who clinically encounter patients with IBS-C.