CME LLC Offers Clinicians Monthly Interactive Lessons on Bipolar Disorder

Main Category: Bipolar
Article Date: 26 Jul 2005 - 0:00 PDT

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CME LLC announced today the Lifelong Learning Initiative on Bipolar Disorder "Activity of the Month" third quarter highlights, part of a full curriculum of continuing medical education programs. Topics range from improving collaborative care to pharmacoeconomics, and each activity provides practical lessons on diagnosing and treating bipolar disorder, an illness that afflicts approximately five percent of the U.S. population today1. With each activity, clinicians can earn FREE continuing medical education credit.

"Together these complementary monthly activities provide healthcare practitioners with tools, insights and skills to help in the collaborative diagnosis and treatment of bipolar disorder," said Marsha Meyer, RPh, senior vice president of clinical information for CME LLC. "Nearly 70 percent of bipolar patients are misdiagnosed, usually with major depression, and these CME activities present highly practical and relevant information for clinicians, including the tools they need to reverse this trend."

July's "Activity of the Month" is a unique online course entitled A Video Demonstration of the Collaborative Care Approach to the Diagnosis and Management of Bipolar Disorder, presented by primary care physician Patrick J. Gillette, MD, and psychiatrist William Land, MD. This program will help clinicians learn to diagnose and manage bipolar disorder through collaboration between primary care physicians and psychiatrists. Video footage includes patient interviews for a real-life perspective.

August's activity will be delivered as an editorial supplement accompanying the August issues of Consultant and Drug Benefit Trends magazines. The supplement focuses on cost-effective management of bipolar disorder and is authored by Alan C. Swann, MD, Pat R. Rutherford, Jr. Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Medical School at Houston. For those without access to these magazines, CME LLC will make all supplements available at http://bipolar.cmellc.com.

September's activity highlights childhood bipolar disorder through an online case study led by Karen D. Wagner, MD, and Melissa DelBello, MD. In addition, the September issue of Consultant magazine will feature an editorial supplement focused on bipolar disorder and the implications of collaborative care and quality of life, authored by J. Sloan Manning, MD, a private family doctor and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Mark A. Frye, MD, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA.

Developed for licensed healthcare practitioners, the Lifelong Learning Initiative on Bipolar Disorder addresses the importance of a collaborative approach to the diagnosis and management of bipolar disorder and provides the latest screening tools and best treatment practices for earlier diagnosis. Clinicians can register for a variety of educational events, participate in each "Activity of the Month," track credits and join in ongoing interactive educational opportunities including a forum where clinicians can post questions and interact with other professionals. Learn more about these important patient care issues at http://bipolar.cmellc.com.

CME's Lifelong Learning Initiative on Bipolar Disorder is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from AstraZeneca.

About CME LLC

CME LLC is a leading ACCME-accredited provider of continuing medical education programs and offers a wide range of informational and educational resources for healthcare professionals. Based in Irvine, Calif., CME produces a variety of conferences, multimedia home-study products and Web sites, and is the sponsor of the U.S. Psychiatric & Mental Health Congress and the Issues in Aging Medical Congress. For additional information, visit CME online at http://'www.CMELLC.com.

1. According to a 2000 survey by the National Manic and Manic-Depressive Association.

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