Due to the high prevalence of epilepsy among people of all ages, patients with seizure disorders are encountered and managed by physicians from all fields of medicine. These patients are frequently seen not only by pediatric and adult neurologists, but also by primary care physicians, pediatricians, neurosurgeons and emergency medicine physicians. Gynecologists, obstetricians, psychiatrists and surgeons come many times across difficult to take decisions in regard to patients with epilepsy. The diagnosis and management of people with epilepsy is frequently challenging. However, providing the right management has important consequences on the medical and social wellbeing of the patients. For all these reasons and given the dynamic developments of this field in medicine, it is important for every physician to be familiar with the most updated practices in epilepsy.

This course will provide the participants with up-to-date approaches to diagnosis and management of patients with epilepsy, using three illustrative clinical cases. Classifications of seizures and epilepsy will be systematically presented and supplemented by video materials. The means of diagnosis and their limitations will be discussed in detail. Indications and possible pitfalls of treatment will be addressed, as well as special issues involving certain subgroup of patients, such as women of childbearing age. Finally, recommendations will be made at the end of each clinical case for more comprehensive readings. Upon completion of this course, the learners will have a deeper understanding of various aspects of epilepsy, which will enable them to provide better care for people with epilepsy whom they will encounter during their carriers.

NUMBER OF CREDIT HOURS: The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This course should take approximately 3 hours to complete.

COST: $60.00 for the average learner. Participants living in emerging nations receive a 50% discount or can register for free. See our International Pricing Page for details.

OVERALL LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. To expose the learners to broad and up-dated knowledge in the field of epilepsy.
2. To provide the learners with practical tools for diagnosis and management of patients with epilepsy.
3. To improve outcomes of patients with various types and degrees of severity of epilepsy.

CLINICAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. To upgrade the learners’ skills of diagnosing seizure disorders.
2. To help the learners identify particular types of seizures and epilepsies requiring specific considerations of evaluation and treatment.
3. To expose the learners to the uses and the limitations of the diagnostic tools for patients with epilepsy.
4. To present the learners with important issues of seizures’ treatment, such as indications, adverse events and specific challenges in certain subgroups of patients.
5. To enable the learners to provide better management for their patients with epilepsy and to identify cases that would benefit from more specific management in dedicated units.

METHOD OF PARTICIPATION:

Registrants participate in the learning process by answering interactive multiple choice questions that are dispersed throughout the case presentation. You must answer a question correctly in order to continue through the course. If you answer a question incorrectly, you will be prompted to try again.

In order to earn credit, physicians must complete the entire educational activity before the termination date (see above). Non-physicians may register for the course but are not eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Instead, non-physicians will earn a certificate of participation after successfully completing the course before its termination date.

COMBINATION OF MEDIA USED:

This internet enduring material is a case-based, interactive presentation comprised mainly of text, interactive questions, and images. A variety of media, including video clips, audio clips, and Flash animation, may be presented. Links to any necessary plugins are provided when necessary, but no plugins are required for general use of the CME website, and you may skip the multimedia presentation(s) within the course if you choose.

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STEVEN SCHACHTER, MD Course Director

Dr. Steven Schachter is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS); Chief Academic Officer and Director of NeuroTechnology for the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (CIMIT), Boston; and Senior Neurologist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), Boston. Dr. Schachter is Past President of the American Epilepsy Society. He is also past Chair of the Professional Advisory Board of the Epilepsy Foundation and serves on their Board of Directors. He has directed over 70 research projects involving antiepileptic therapies, and published over 200 articles and chapters. He compiled the 6-volume Brainstorms series, and has edited or written 23 other books on epilepsy and behavioral neurology. Dr. Schachter is the founding editor and editor-in-chief of the medical journal Epilepsy & Behavior. DISCLOSURE: Cyberonics: consultant, royalty fees. Content area: vagus nerve stimulation for treatment of epilepsy.

DANA EKSTEIN, MD Course Co-Director

Dr. Dana Ekstein is head of Epilepsy Center and Senior Neurologist, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. She completed her neurology residency training at Hadassah University Medical Center and the epilepsy fellowship program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School in Boston. She has published articles and chapters in the field of epilepsy, and has a particular interest in mechanisms of epileptogenesis and new treatments for epilepsy. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

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FRANK DRISLANE, MD Reviewer

Frank Drislane, MD is a neurologist at the BIDMC comprehensive epilepsy center with an interest in status epilepticus. He is also the director of the Neurology residency at BIDMC and the clerkship for Harvard Medical students. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

DANIEL HOCH, MD Reviewer

Dr. Hoch is a neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard Medical School. His clinical interest is in the care of patients with epilepsy and in the acute treatment of patients with seizures in the hospital. He is an active neurophysiologist with extensive experience in routine EEG and long-term/video monitoring of EEGs in intensive care and epilepsy monitoring units. In addition, he is a pioneering user of computers and communication technologies to facilitate the care of patients. He is a founding member of the Braintalk Communities, a collection of over 200 separate online support groups for individuals with neurologic disease, and a member of the Cooksbranch Initiative, a group conceived by the late Dr. Tom Ferguson to promote a model of participatory healthcare. he also serves on a number of advocacy and advisory committees in support of patient centered computing including as Associate Editor of AAN.COM for Patients and Caregivers. His most recent research centers on the ways in which online virtual environments can be used to facilitate healthcare. DISCLOSURE: Spouse: Medco Health, equity, Benefits management

MARTIN SAMUELS, MD Reviewer

Martin A. Samuels, was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He received his BA from Williams College in 1967 and MD from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine in 1971. He completed an internship, residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Boston City Hospital and Neurology Residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital. He was chief of the Neurology Service at the Brockton-West Roxbury VA Medical Center for eleven years before assuming the position as Chief of Neurology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Director of the Harvard Longwood Neurology Training Program in 1988. He is Professor of Neurology at the Harvard Medical School and founding Chair of the Department of Neurology at the Brigham. Dr. Samuels is board certified in both Neurology and Internal Medicine, is a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and a Master of the American College of Physicians. He is a member of the American Neurological Association and the past-president of the Association of University Professors of Neurology. He is the creator and current co-editor of Samuels’s Manual of Neurologic Therapeutics, eight editions; editor of the neurology section of Stein’s Internal Medicine, 3rd, 4th and 5th editions; the editor of the medical neurology section of Noseworthy’s Neurological Therapeutics, two editions; co-editor of Office Practice of Neurology; editor of the medical neurology section in Schapira’s Neurology in Clinical Neuroscience; editor of Hospitalist Neurology; co-author of Shared Care in Neurology, author of the ten volume Video Textbook of Neurology for the Practicing Physician, author of the Martin A. Samuels Review Course in Neurology for Non-Neurologists; editor of the Comprehensive Update and Review of Neurology and co-author of Adams and Victor’s Principles of Neurology, ninth edition. He is the founding editor-in-chief of Journal Watch Neurology and is an ad hoc reviewer or editorial board member of several medical and neurological journals. He has won numerous prizes, including the first Harvard Medical School Faculty Prize for Excellence in Teaching, the 2006 A.B. Baker Award for Lifetime Achievement in Neurological Education and the 2007 H. Houston Merritt Award for Clinically Relevant Research. He received the Daniel Drake Medal and an honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Samuels is the author of numerous articles, chapters, video and audio tapes and is the discusser of a record eleven Cabot Cases, published in the New England Journal of Medicine. He has acted as visiting professor at innumerable centers around the world and co-led a course on Neurological Medicine at the World Congress of Neurology in Sydney. His special interest is the interface between Internal Medicine and Neurology, an area in which he offered a legendary one-man full day course at the AAN annual meeting for many years. He is internationally known, both within internal medicine and neurology, as a premier diagnostician and teacher. Among his major fields of expertise are neurocardiology, neurohematology, neurogastroenterology, neurohepatology, neuronephrology, the neurologic complications of organ transplantation and the neurologic aspects of acid-base and electrolyte disturbances. He has also written and lectured widely on common neurologic complaints such as dizziness, movement disorders, stroke, emergency neurology and headache. His creative work has focused on the mechanisms of neurovisceral control and damage, beginning with his study of neurogenic electrocardiographic changes. His unifying hypothesis, aimed at explaining the mechanisms of neurogenic heart disease, has wide clinical application to the role of the nervous system in the causation of human disease. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

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SANJIV CHOPRA, MD Planner

Dr. Sanjiv Chopra is Professor of Medicine and Faculty Dean for Continuing Medical Education at Harvard Medical School and Senior Consultant in Hepatology at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston. In his role as Faculty Dean for Continuing Education, Dr. Chopra provides oversight and leadership of the Department and oversees the academic development of our programs. Dr. Chopra is an experienced clinician, researcher, and educator. In his research roles, he has served both as a principal investigator as well as co-investigator. He has more than 120 publications and five books to his credit, addressing topics in disease states, patient care, and leadership. Dr. Chopra’s teaching experience is extensive, and he has won numerous teaching awards for his work with medical students, residents and physicians. Currently, he directs and speaks at 10 multiday CME courses, nine of which are through HMS. For his full bio, please click here. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

ANDI LONG, EDM Planner

Andi Long directs the Department of Continuing Education’s Distance Learning group, which offers a variety of online continuing medical education programs to health care professionals around the world. Andi develops strategies for new pilot programs and systematically rolls out new distance learning initiatives and has a leadership role in IT planning and other online processes for HMS DCE. She oversees the day-to-day operations of each distance learning activity and ensures ACCME compliance across all enduring programs. She has had the privilege of working with hundreds of Harvard Medical School Faculty members to develop high-quality, engaging online programs that physicians in more than 170 countries have taken part in. Andi earned her Ed.M. in Technology, Innovation, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and graduated from Bridgewater State College, summa cum laude, with a degree in English. Her professional interests focus on teaching and learning with new technologies and online course development. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

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NUMBER OF CREDITS: 3 

The Harvard Medical School is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 3 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This course should take approximately 3 hours to complete.

Within 2 weeks of completing the course, you will receive your certificate via email.

Click the image to view a sample of the certificate

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