Top 10 Live CE Courses to Cap Off 2021

This article identifies AchieveCE’s top live CE courses this December!

2021 is nearing its end. While the yearend signals everyone to celebrate and reflect on the past year, it is also a time for many healthcare professionals to renew their licenses and finish their continuing education requirements.

Don’t let your CE requirements be part of the holiday rush! AchieveCE has many live CE courses that you can attend and earn credit from. Join our expert faculty in the following activities to interact with them in real-time, and complete your live CE requirements in no time!

Here are the top 10 live courses from AchieveCE that can help you cap off 2021!

 

1. Clinical Pharmacogenetics in the Current Pharmacy Practice (December 6, 2021, 8PM ET)

There is a significant increase in the number of drugs in the market that require genetic sequencing to determine the patient’s eligibility for treatment, to adjust the dose, or to minimize the risk of toxicity. The knowledge of hospital and community pharmacists in this field is limited and requires continuous updates by informing them about the proper use of the new drugs that require genotyping.

Presented by Tamer E. Fandy, Ph.D., BCGP, FCP of the University of Charleston, this activity will discuss the basics and current applications in clinical pharmacogenetics and provide examples in the form of patient cases to facilitate understanding and appreciation of the topic. This 1-hour webinar, one of AchieveCE’s top live CE courses, is scheduled on December 6, 2021, at 8PM ET.

 

2. Bad Bugs, ‘New’ Drugs: Updates on Antibiotic Treatment Options for Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections (December 07, 2021, 8PM ET)

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major problem both nationally and globally. Novel antibiotic options are being developed for the treatment of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections. This webinar aims to make pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and nurses aware of these novel antibiotics to recognize their potential clinical utility, pharmacology, adverse effects, and clinical pearls, and evaluate available literature on their use for treatment of such infections.

Presented by Wesley D. Kufel, PharmD, BCIDP, BCPS, AAHIVP of Binghamton University, this 1-hour webinar is scheduled on December 7, 2021, at 8PM ET.

 

3. Issues Pharmacy Professionals Must Address for Patient Safety (December 8, 2021, 8PM ET)

Medication errors can have serious consequences for patients. Preventable adverse effects from medication errors are still a leading cause of death in the United States. Committing to medication safety is therefore essential to pharmaceutical care. Insight into the common causes and consequences of medication errors is important so that pharmacists and pharmacy technicians can be better equipped to enhance patient safety and reduce pharmacy liability.

Presented by Peter A. Kreckel, RPh, this 2-hour webinar is one of AchieveCE’s top live CE courses. Join him on December 8, 2021, at 8PM ET.

 

4. Medication-Assisted Treatment: A Guide for Pharmacists and Pharmacy Technicians (December 9, 2021, 10AM ET)

While pharmacists dispense medication to patients with substance abuse, they don’t know how treatment is initiated, how long it lasts, and how the dose of medication is titrated. This live CE course will discuss substance abuse disorder, and medication-assisted treatment (MAT) and its associated medications will also be explained. The discussion will also include the research of both empirical and anecdotal medications, and alternative medications such as cannabis and psychedelic drugs that are added to the MAT regimen. The presentation will also identify the roles of pharmacy personnel as part of a collaborative team in the treatment of substance abuse.

Elaine K. Richer, RPh will present this FREE one-hour live CE course on December 9, 2021, at 10AM ET.

 

5. Protecting Patient Privacy in the Healthcare Setting (December 13, 2021, 10AM ET)

Pharmacy staff, regardless of practice setting, must access patient health information daily to perform their jobs. It is critical that they act according to the law when interacting with and sharing patient-protected health information, or they could face action from their employer or their law, and their employer could face fines and lose the public’s trust. To prevent a breach of privacy, the pharmacy staff must understand privacy laws.

This CE activity will provide in-depth coverage of healthcare privacy law, focusing on HIPAA and HITECH. It will provide a background and history of those laws, review who must comply and what the requirements are, and use case studies and examples to discuss appropriate and inappropriate disclosure of PHI.

Presented by Alex Evans, PharmD, MBA of pharmcompliance.com, this 1-hour live CE aims to provide participants with the confidence in handling PHI in accordance with federal law and with appropriately reporting breaches of PHI. Join Dr. Evans on December 13, 2021, at 10AM ET for this webinar.

 

6. Just Say Know: A Review of Illicit Substances (December 13, 2021, 8PM ET)

Countless patients choose to ingest illicit substances while also utilizing prescription medications, and as healthcare professionals, we are left with barely any education on these substances. More education is needed to provide tangible life-saving, or at least life-improving, patient education.

Forget polypharmacy. What about polysubstance abuse? Every 7 minutes, an American dies of a drug overdose, propelling pharmacists to expand our knowledge on illicit substances. We humans have always aimed to experience the amplified effects of natural and synthetic substances that produce euphoria. The line between clinical and criminal utilization of substances is often blurred. In our society today, we have a very “objective” classification of substances based on generally accepted medical use and a respective propensity to become habit-forming. However, as one can recall with the substance of ethyl alcohol (i.e., beer, wine, and hard liquor), a substance may never actually chemically change, yet can move across legal classifications of substances. How does that happen? Well, join our discussion on illicit substances to learn how numerous illicit substances have similar, if not the same, mechanisms of action as legal prescription medications readily available today. The time has come (Just Say NOW) to progress from “Just Say No” to “Just Say Know”!

Presented by pain expert Mark Garofoli, PharmD, MBA, BCGP, CPE, this 1-hour live CE is scheduled on December 13, 2021, at 8PM ET. It will discuss common substances of abuse based on pharmacological classification, describe the respective pharmacology of common substances of abuse, and recall the DEA controlled substance classes of common substances of abuse.

 

7. Pharmacotherapy Update 2021 (December 14, 2021, 8PM ET)

The FDA has increased the number of medication approvals exponentially over the past ten years. In 2020, it has approved 53 new drugs and biologics, as compared to 48 in 2019. Of the ones approved last year, 40% were first in class, and 58% received indications to manage rare diseases.

This CE addresses approximately 35 of the new medications approved in 2020 that the average pharmacist may not have had time to review and keep track of as they entered the market. This presentation will address this gap and focus on medications used primarily in the Ambulatory Care and Community practice settings. The information discussed will be centered on how the medications work and includes clinical trial summaries that led to their approval by the FDA.

This top 1-hour live CE course is presented by Timothy R. Brown, PharmD, FASHP of the University of Georgia, and is scheduled on December 14, 2021, at 8PM ET. Click the photo below to enroll.

 

8. Where Drug Meets Device: A Pharmacist’s Role in Mechanical Ventilation (December 20, 2021, 10AM ET)

Regardless of role and specialization, inpatient pharmacists are seeing more mechanically ventilated patients or patients who have recently come off of a ventilator, especially in the era of COVID-19. Understanding the patient’s ventilator course and applying this to the patient’s current status and medication therapy is essential for all pharmacists. However, this topic is rarely taught in the standard PharmD curriculum and is likely only seen in PGY2 Critical Care programs. As such, a key gap exists for currently practicing pharmacists, given the COVID-19 related surges in respiratory failure.

In this live webinar, the audience will gain a basic introduction to key terminology and concepts associated with mechanical ventilation. Then, a particular focus will be made on the pharmacotherapy specifically associated with mechanical ventilation and the therapy results after the patient has been extubated. From here, the pharmacist’s role in optimizing safe and effective medication use practices associated with this device will be discussed so that every pharmacist walks away with a basic ‘toolkit’ for understanding this therapy.

Presented by Andrea Sikora Newsome, PharmD, MSCR, BCPS, BCCCP, FCCM, this 1-hour live course is one of AchieveCE’s top live CE courses this December. Join Dr. Newsome on December 20, 2021, at 10AM ET.

 

9. Managing Menopause: A Hot Topic (December 21, 2021, 8PM ET)

Menopause is an inevitable life event for all females. The peri-menopausal transition can dramatically affect the female systemic health, cognition, mood, energy, and quality of life. The approach to management requires a thoughtful understanding of both the risks and benefits associated with treatment. For years, hormone replacement therapy was looked at as a fountain of youth, a treatment that could minimize troublesome menopause symptoms, enhance bone growth, and improve quality of life through effects on mood and cognition. Theorizing this possible benefit, the Women’s Health Initiative Trial was implemented with the hypothesis that HRT would dramatically reduce risks of CVD and cancer in postmenopausal women.

Interestingly, the WHI was stopped prematurely due to an increased risk of CVD and breast cancer in certain populations. After this trial, the use of hormone therapy fell dramatically, and estrogen and progestin-based therapies to treat menopause largely fell out of favor, posing that the risks of HRT did not outweigh the benefits. Almost twenty years after the WHI, clinicians remain hesitant to implement systemic hormone therapy for patients with peri-menopausal symptoms. The study results still spark debate in the medical community. This is likely due to the notion that conflicting thoughts and perspectives still prevail, and there is a lack of clear, consensus guidelines on the approach to management. 

This top 1-hour live CE course will be presented by Lalita Prasad-Reddy, PharmD, MS, BCPS, BCACP, CDECS on December 21, 2021, at 8PM ET.

10. HIV: 40 Years And Counting… (December 29, 2021, 8PM ET)

With eight categories of HIV meds now available, pharmacists need to be up to date about these therapies. Whether using regimens from 20 years ago or the newest drugs, pharmacists and technicians need to be monitoring adherence to those regimens. By providing data from the San Francisco Study to show the need for 95% adherence, we will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each category of drugs, as well as those individual drugs. 

Presented by Pete Kreckel, RPh, this FREE activity, one of AchieveCE’s top live CE courses, will also discuss the history of HIV and AIDS, its transmission, universal precaution, prevention, management, and the federal and Florida laws on HIV testing and reporting and AIDS therapy. Join Pete Kreckel this December 29, 2021, at 8PM ET for AchieveCE’s last webinar for the year!

 

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