The course will provide a series of multiple-choice question based cases in common and life-threatening clinical entities typically encountered in the Urgent Care or Emergency Department environment. The cases will feature multimedia content to engage the participant. Faculty for the course will primarily be drawn from Harvard Medical School (HMS) associated hospitals. The core faculty will be supplemented by a small number of selected external faculty who are nationally and internationally recognized in the field of contribution.

Emergency Medicine physicians as well as primary care physicians (e.g., Internists, Family Practice physicians, and Pediatricians) who practice Emergency Medicine are the target audience for the course. The participants will have an opportunity to review and advance their knowledge of current practice patterns and recent advances in clinical emergency medicine by taking the course. They will be required to complete all content associated with the course (their progress is electronically tracked). In addition, all participants will be required to correctly answer all associated multiple-choice questions during the course. A standardized level of care equivalent to a typical community level hospital in the United States of America will be employed.

NUMBER OF CREDIT HOURS: The Harvard Medical School designates this enduring material for a maximum of 2 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 2 hours to complete.

COST: $40.00 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. Clinical update on revised AHA sponsored 2010 ACLS guidelines as they related specifically to sudden cardiac death and acute ischemic conditions.
2. Review of literature on sudden cardiac death and acute ischemia related articles since publication of the 2010 ACLS guidelines.
3. Case-based clinical problem solving (a multiple choice question based format will be used for the cases).

CLINICAL LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

1. Review key changes in guidelines published by the AHA in 2010 related to ACLS, including concepts related to:
2. o The "Chain of Survival"
3. o Ventilation
4. o Automatic external defibrillator
5. Summarize changes in the pharmacologic treatment of acute ischemia syndromes including acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) and acute ischemic stroke.
6. Review changes in pharmacologic approach to ventricular dsyrhythmias leading to sudden cardiac death including:
7. o The expanded use of amiodarone and vaspressin
8. o Current recommendations for high-dose epinephrine
9. o The use of sodium bicarbonate and magnesium sulfate

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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SHAMAI GROSSMAN, MD Course Director

Shamai A Grossman, MD, MS is currently Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is vice chair for resource utilization and director of the Cardiac Emergency Center and Clinical Decision Unit in the division of emergency medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an attending physician with the Department of Emergency Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center as well. Dr. Grossman is trained as both a cardiologist and an emergency physician and focuses his research and teaching on the interface between both cardiology and emergency medicine. He is the editor in chief of Cardiovascular Problems in Emergency Medicine. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

RUSSELL BERGER, MD Course Contributor

Russell Berger is a 2007 graduate of Mount Sinai Medical School and a 2010 graduate of the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is currently the Harvard Medical Toxicology Fellow at Children’s Hospital Boston. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

DAVID F. BROWN, MD Course Contributor

Dr. Brown is an Associate Professor of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston, MA. He serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Associate Chief of Emergency Services at MGH. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

MICHAEL FOGEL, MD Course Contributor

Michael Fogel was born in the Boston area and attended Cornell University where he received his BA in Biology. After a year of laboratory research in the Pulmonary and Critical Care Division at The New England Medical Center, he completed the MD/PhD program at Tufts University School of Medicine where his work in bacterial genetics was awarded the Dean's award for best graduate thesis. He is currently in his third year of residency in Emergency Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Harvard Medical School. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

SAMUEL GROSS, MD Course Contributor

Samuel Gross is a senior resident in the Harvard Affiliated Emergency Medicine Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Bostion. After his undergraduate career, he pursued a graduate degree in Geography at the Univeristy of Minnesota before returning to Wisconsin for his medical training. He completed medical school at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities.

ETHAN ROSS, MD Course Contributor

Ethan M. Ross grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and attended the University of California at Santa Cruz, earning a BS with highest honors. He then attended the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and after doing two years of General Surgical residency at the University of California at San Francisco, he is now in his last year of residency in Emergency Medicine at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center of Harvard Medical School. DISCLOSURE: Reported no relevant financial relationships with commercial entities

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DUANE S. PINTO, MD Reviewer

Dr. Pinto received his B.A., cum Laude, from Dartmouth College in Hanover, NH and M.D. degree from the Georgetown University, cum Laude and Alpha Omega Alpha. He was an Intern, Resident, Chief Resident, General Cardiology Fellow and Interventional Cardiology Fellow at Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, MA. Dr. Pinto is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and serves as the Director of the General Cardiology Fellowship Program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. His clinical expertise is in general and interventional cardiology. In addition to a busy outpatient practice, he performs coronary and peripheral angioplasty and stenting procedures. These include stenting and other procedures in the heart, leg, abdominal and neck arteries. Dr. Pinto continues his research interests in a wide variety of topics including acute myocardial infarction studies, unstable angina studies, interventional trials, peripheral interventional trials, angiogenesis trials, imaging modality studies, and numerous device trials for both the coronary and peripheral circulations. Dr. Pinto is a manuscript reviewer for Circulation, the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and the Journal of Endovascular Therapy. His research has been presented in various manuscripts, abstracts, and textbook chapters such as Hurst’s: The Heart and Sabiston and Spencer’s Surgery of the Chest. He writes for the Online resources, UpToDate and Harrison’s Online. He has published original articles in journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Circulation, and the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. His work highlights the management and outcomes of patients with cardiac and vascular disorders. DISCLOSURE: Medicines Company, Speakers' Bureau/research support/consultation, ACS medications SPC/Merk, Speakers' Bureau, ACS medications Lilly/DSI, Speakers' Bureau, ACS medications Medtronic, Inc., Speakers' Bureau, Coronary Stents Heartscape Technologies, Consultant, Detection of MI

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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: 2 

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 2 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 2 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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