Continuing Medical Education through Medscape
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease with diverse clinical presentations. These factors make SLE difficult to diagnose and a challenge to treat and manage. While therapeutic advances have led to improvements in patient outcomes and survival, many of the standard treatments come with adverse effects that are concerning for patients and providers. Effective patient-clinician interaction is an integral part of successfully managing SLE. It can lead to improved care as the patient and provider work together to address symptoms, medication issues, and other aspects of the disease.
Medscape, in partnership with the Lupus Foundation of America, offers several continuing medical education (CME) programs designed to develop or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance of health care providers who treat patients who have SLE. These programs are supported by an independent educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.
About this activity: This activity is intended for rheumatologists, primary care physicians, obstetricians, gynecologists, dermatologists, nephrologists, and nurses. The goal of this activity is to increase awareness of the management and treatment of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
The cases in this activity are modeled on the interactive grand rounds approach. The questions are designed to test practitioners’ current knowledge. After each question, they will be able to see whether they answered correctly and read evidence-based information that supports the most appropriate answer. At the end of the activity, there will be a short assessment of the material presented.
Upon completion of this activity, participants will:
- Have increased knowledge regarding the identification of SLE flare symptoms
- Have greater competence related to:
- Modifying therapies in patients with SLE
- Incorporating patient-centric strategies to improve management of SLE symptoms
About this activity: This activity is intended for rheumatologists, primary care physicians, obstetricians, gynecologists, nurses, and nurse practitioners. The goal of this activity is to increase the knowledge of best practices in managing systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), including treating disease flares, assessing adherence to therapy, and improving patient-provider communication.
Upon completion of this activity, participants will have increased knowledge regarding:
- Approaches to managing SLE disease flares
- Roles for health care providers in assessing adherence to SLE therapies
- Strategies for facilitating patient-provider communication in SLE management
About this activity: This activity is intended for rheumatologists, primary care physicians, obstetricians and gynecologists, and nurses. The goal of this activity is to increase awareness of the prevalence of fatigue in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and how to optimally manage fatigue based on the best evidence available.
Before participants begin this activity, they assess their clinical knowledge by completing a brief survey. They answer the same questions after the activity, which allows them to see what they learned and compare their answers to those of their peers.
Upon completion of this activity, participants will have increased knowledge regarding:
- Assessment of fatigue in SLE management
- Team-based approaches to managing fatigue in patients with SLE
About this activity: This activity is intended for rheumatologists, primary care physicians, obstetricians, and gynecologists. The goal of this activity is to build health care professionals’ confidence in strategies for the individualized treatment, care coordination, and follow-up of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and to help providers apply updated and emerging best practices across a variety of clinical presentations.
Providers will enhance their clinical skills as they engage with virtual patients in an objective, realistic, and interactive simulation. Using an interface resembling a patient chart, they can treat patients, diagnose medical conditions, and prescribe medications, while ordering from thousands of labs, diagnoses, devices, and drugs. Metrics track their performance and provide instant expert feedback on their decisions. At the end of the course, participants will see their results, along with commentary on each case.
Upon completion of this activity, participants will:
- Have greater competence related to recognizing the signs and symptoms of an SLE flare
- Demonstrate improved performance in:
- Selecting therapies for SLE and related flares (based on shared treatment goals)
- Patient-provider communication throughout SLE management
About this activity: This activity is intended for rheumatologists, primary care physicians, obstetricians, and gynecologists. The goal of this activity is to build health care professionals' confidence in strategies for the individualized treatment, care coordination, and follow-up of patients with multi-systemic illness and to ensure that updated and emerging best practices are applied across a variety of clinical presentations.
Providers will enhance their clinical skills as they engage with virtual patients in an objective, realistic, and interactive simulation. Using an interface resembling a patient chart, they can treat patients, diagnose medical conditions, and prescribe medications, while ordering from thousands of labs, diagnoses, devices, and drugs. Metrics track their performance and provide instant expert feedback on their decisions. At the end of the course, participants will see their results, along with commentary on each case.
Upon completion of this activity, participants will:
- Demonstrate improved performance associated with the ability to order appropriate diagnostic tests for a patient presenting with multi-systemic symptoms
- Have greater competence related to selecting a suitable treatment plan to assist in managing a patient's symptoms
- Have increased knowledge of the selection of non-pharmacological follow-up orders, including various forms of patient education
Developed through a partnership between the Lupus Foundation of America and Medscape.