ScientiaCME Free CME Courses

Activity Description:

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:

HCPs including: hematology; nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and pharmacists who specialize in hematology; and those with an interest in or may clinically encounter patients with PKD.

In this online, self-learning activity:

Over the past few decades, cultural competence has been defined in a variety of ways, including in the recent appearance of the closely related terms, cultural humility and cultural competemility. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 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 provider competence and health outcomes among diverse groups of patients with unique sociocultural identities, including race, ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation.

In this online, self-learning activity:

Hereditary angioedema (HAE) is a rare, debilitating, and potentially life-threatening disease due to C1-inhibitor (C1-INH) deficiency with an estimated prevalence of 5,000 people in the U.S. and over 116,000 worldwide. HAE is characterized by recurrent edema, and the cutaneous attacks can be disabling, with the skin, gastrointestinal tract, and upper airways are most commonly affected. Patients are also under persistent risk of laryngeal swelling that may prove fatal if not treated in a timely manner. The disease is classified as: HAE with normal functional C1INH protein (previously known as type III HAE) or HAE due to a deficiency of C1INH protein, with the latter further distinguished either by deficiency in both concentrations and function of C1INH (type I) or by normal levels of dysfunctional C1INH (type II). Owing to its rarity and symptomatic overlap with other conditions, patients not uncommonly experience a diagnostic delay of 8 to 10 years, putting them at a higher risk of inappropriate treatment, morbidity, and mortality.

Target Audience:
HCPs including: allergists, immunologists, emergency medicine specialists, and internists; physician assistants, nurse practitioners, and pharmacists specializing in immunology; and any other HCPs who have an interest in or otherwise clinically encounter patients with HAE.

Streptococcus (S.) pneumoniae is a common bacterium and one of the leading causes of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP), causing 27% of cases worldwide and 15% of U.S. cases – an important figure because CAP is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Not only is acute respiratory illness one of the top ten causes of death in the U.S., but it is associated with a 17% all-cause mortality rate 30 days after presentation and a 38% rate after one year. For those admitted to the ICU – accounting for nearly a quarter of those hospitalized with CAP the corresponding morality rates are 27% and 47%, respectively.