Planning Medical Education for Rare Diseases

By: Sue McGuinness, PhD, CHCP

Dustin Ensign and Kathleen Moreo presented “A Rare CME Formula – Aligning Strategic Considerations for Orphan, Rare and Ultra-Rare Diseases” at the CBI annual meeting on Sept. 13, 2018. There are 7,000 rare diseases currently known, impacting approximately 10 percent of the U.S. population. In the United States, a rare disease is defined as a condition that affects fewer than 200,000 people. An additional challenge is that the literature shows it can take nearly a decade for a patient to obtain a confirmatory diagnosis in a rare disease, emphasizing under-recognition and unmet needs in awareness, screening practices and diagnostic barriers among the clinical community.

Incorporating the Patient Into Education: Are You Planning to ‘Win It’ or Are You ‘In It to Win It’?

By: Kristen L. Dascoli

“Shared decision-making.” “Patient-centered care.” “Patient perspectives.” “Patient voice.” These phrases have buzzed around the continuing professional development (CPD) community for years, especially when it comes to discussions on best practices in developing educational strategies that affect health outcomes. But are we doing enough to embrace and develop education that is truly effective, accessible and meaningful to patients? The short answer: We could do more.

Conundrums in Instructional Design

By: Hilary Schmidt, PhD

This new column is designed to present and resolve common challenges and conundrums in CE instructional design. The Almanac readership is invited to read a scenario, consider associated questions, answer any polling questions and/or submit ideas for best-practice solutions to these instructional design “puzzles” (not to exceed 200 words). Our column editor, an expert in human learning and instructional design, will review the first 25 submissions and select one or two of the best solutions to highlight in the next issue. Expert commentary, references and resources will also be provided. The scenarios are based on real-world examples and expert analysis of the instructional designs of hundreds of CE activities and grant applications.