Needs Assessment

The growing incidence and success of solid organ transplantation brings with it an increased risk of the development of diseases associated with high levels of immunosuppression. With a growing population of organ transplant recipients (OTRs) in the United States today considered to be at a very high risk for developing nonmelanoma skin cancer (NMSC), researchers estimate that within 20 years of transplantation, up to 70% of fair-skinned patients may develop NMSC, and many will develop numerous tumors. Patients with other forms of immunosuppression, including HIV/AIDS and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, also experience high levels of NMSC.

Participating in this CME activity will help dermatologists and transplant specialist identify patients at risk, as well as prevent and treat skin cancer that may develop as a result of immunosuppression leading to improved patient outcomes.

 

Physician Accreditation

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and SynerMed^® Communications. Vanderbilt University School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians.

 

Designation of Credit

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1 category 1 credit toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. Each physician should claim only those credits he/she actually spent in the activity.

 

Learning Objectives

After completing this educational activity as designed, the participant should be able to:

• Identify patients at risk for NMSC and key issues regarding their treatment
• Recognize thresholds of NMSC occurrences for treatment, and define safe, efficacious therapies in light of the immunosuppression that is associated with transplant management
• Review the clinical experience, safety, and efficacy of currently available, relevant therapies for the treatment of NMSC

 

Principal Audience

This activity has been developed for dermatologists and transplant specialists.

 

Method of Participation

This CME educational activity consists of a slide kit with comprehensive annotations and a posttest which are available on the Internet at https://medschool.mc.vanderbilt.edu/cme/onlinequiz1/user/login.php. This educational activity should take approximately 1 hour to complete.

In order to participate in this on-line slide kit, you will need a computer with:

• Personal Computer (PC) Minimum System Requirements
• Windows 95/Windows 98
• Pentium class 266 MHZ PC or faster
• At lease 32 MB RAM
• A display adapter and monitor capable of displaying 16-bit (thousands of colors) color at a minimum of 640 x 480

This enduring material was released in July 2005. Physicians can obtain credit for meeting the requirements of this CME activity until July 31, 2007. Credit designation may be renewed after that time. Please contact the Division of CME (cme@vanderbilt.edu) for information about credit designation after June 30, 2007.

How to participate in the CME educational activity and obtain credit.

To obtain credit for participating in this certified CME educational activity you must:

• Read through the slides and comprehensive annotations
• Score 80% on the multiple-choice posttest
• Complete evaluation questions
• Provide personal information

The evaluation form provides each participant with the opportunity to comment on the extent to which the learning objectives were met, the quality of the instructional process, the perception of enhanced professional effectiveness, the perception of commercial bias, and participant views on future educational needs.

Personal information is used for issuing a certificate of CME credit and storing information about your CME credit in the Vanderbilt CME database. A more detailed description of the procedures for obtaining credit is located on the CME Posttest/Registration/Evaluation Form of this educational activity.

 

Disclosure Statement

It is the policy of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine that the information presented during Vanderbilt CME activities will be unbiased and based on the scientific evidence. To help participants make judgments about the content of the CME activity, disclosure of the financial relationships of speakers and SynerMed^® Communications, the joint sponsor, with commercial entities that produce or market products or services related to the content of the CME activity, if any, will be made known to the audience at the beginning of the CME activity.

The audience is advised that this presentation includes discusion of unlabeled or unapproved uses of drugs.

 

Contributors and Disclosures

Mark G. Lebwohl, MD
Professor and Chairman
Department of Dermatology
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York , New York

Disclosure: Dr. Lebwohl has been an investigator and has received grant support from Abbott Laboratories, Allergan, Amgen, Biogen, Centocor, Connetics Corporation, Fujisawa, Galderma, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, 3M, and Novartis. He has consulted for Amgen, Biogen, Centocor, and Genentech. Dr. Lebwohl has received honoraria from Allergen, Amgen, Biogen, Connetics Corporation, Fujisawa, and 3M.
Vanderbilt CME has determined that no conflict of interest exists.

Thomas Stasko, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine (Dermatology)
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, Tennessee

Disclosure: Dr. Stasko declares he has no financial interest or other relationship with any company that produces health care products or services.

David C. Cronin, II, MD, PhD, FACS
Director, Liver Transplantation
Department of Surgery/Transplant
Yale University School of Medicine
New Haven, Connecticut

Disclosure: Dr. Cronin is a CME Consultant for Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.

 

SynerMed^® Communications

SynerMed^® Communications is a medical education company that provided educational services in the development of this CME activity. SynerMed^® Communications declares that it has no financial interest or relationship with any company that produces health care products or services.

Connetics Corporation provided an unrestricted educational grant to support the development and distribution of this CME activity to physicians and other health care professionals.

Disclaimer

The content and views presented in this educational program are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Connetics Corporation, or SynerMed^® Communications. This material is prepared based upon a review of multiple sources of information, but it is not exhaustive of the subject matter. Therefore, healthcare professionals and other individuals should review and consider other publications and materials on the subject matter before relying solely upon the information provided by the faculty.

 

A CME activity sponsored by the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

Supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Connetics Corporation