Jointly provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and DKBmed, LLC
This activity is supported by an independent educational grant from Merck & Co., Inc.

We have made great progress in managing HIV over the past few decades, but we still have quite a bit to do. About 38,000 new HIV infections occur every year, but this can be prevented.

Challenges remain in screening, preventing, and treating HIV infections. Clinicians should understand the guidelines for screening and recognize which patients should be screened more frequently.

Many clinicians encounter barriers in screening their patients, including those who may have more risk of acquiring HIV, such as injection drug users, men who have sex with men, and others. Screening for HIV allows clinicians to detect HIV at earlier stages. Currently, about 15% of people living with HIV in the United Stated are completely unaware of their infection. Diagnosing and treating people with HIV not only reduces illness but it also reduces further transmission of the virus.

Clinicians also play an important role in preventing HIV. Learn how to identify which patients would benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis, a medication that reduces HIV infections by >90% when taken as directed.

For clinicians managing patients living with HIV, switching therapies may be warranted, depending on the patient’s risk of side effects, expected adherence, and other factors, including food restrictions and use of other medications. Recognizing these situations can greatly improve patient quality of life.

Topics covered:

  • Discuss recommendations and rationale for HIV testing.
  • Identify people who would benefit from PrEP and understand prescribing and monitoring recommendations.
  • Describe rationale and approach to selecting treatment regimens for people with HIV.

Faculty


Sandra Springer, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine,
Department of Internal Medicine
Section of Infectious Disease
Yale School of Medicine

Dr. Sandra Springer is an associate professor of medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases at the Yale School of Medicine and the Infectious Disease physician at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. She is triple board-certified in internal medicine, infectious diseases and addiction medicine. She has focused her clinical and research career on integrating substance use disorder and HIV treatment. In particular she has evaluated the use of medications for the treatment of opioid and alcohol use disorders among persons living with HIV involved in the criminal justice system to improve HIV viral suppression as well as reduce opioid and alcohol relapse post-release. She also was a working group member of NASEM’s historic meeting calling for action to integrate OUD and infectious disease treatment and currently appointed as NASEM committee member for ‘Examination of the Integration of Opioid and Infectious Disease Prevention Efforts in Select Programs’; and a current member of ASAM’s National Practice Guideline Expert PaneI for Medication Treatment for OUD; and current member of the IDSA and HIVMA Working Group on Infectious Disease Issues In the Opioid Epidemic. She has presented her work at numerous national and international conferences, and has published over 100 manuscripts, book chapters, and abstracts.



Justin Alves, RN, ACRN, CARN
Nurse Educator – Office Based Addiction Treatment, Training and Technical Assistance Program
Boston Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts

Justin is a Clinical Nurse Educator for the State Technical Assistance and Treatment Expansion of Office Based Addiction Treatment (STATE OBAT) at Boston Medical Center, with specific expertise in infectious disease and their co-occurrence with substance use disorders, community outreach, and harm reduction. He serves as an expert on the Substance Use Disorder Care Continuum ECHO team, providing opioid addiction training and mentoring to health centers throughout the SUD care spectrum. He also sits on the item writing committee for the Addictions Nursing Certification Board, which oversees the accreditation of addiction nurses via the Certified Addictions Registered Nurse (CARN) and the Certified Addictions Registered Nurse-Advanced Practice (CARN-AP) examinations. Justin has dedicated his career to caring for patients living with HIV/AIDS and suffering from substance use disorders across the continuum of care, working first in the community for a mobile health unit offering free HIV/STI testing and case management services and most recently as a staff nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Infectious Disease Division. He is an AIDS Certified Registered Nurse, serving as the President of the Boston Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and a Certified Addictions Registered Nurse, serving as the Vice-President of the Massachusetts Chapter of the International Nurses Society on Addictions. He is also the current President of the Gamma Epsilon Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Justin received his BSN from Northeastern University in 2013 and is currently in a MSN program at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth with a focus in nursing education.

CME/CE

Jointly provided by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and DKBmed, LLC.

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of clinicians involved in the care of patients with HIV or at risk for HIV.

Educational Objectives

After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:
  • Discuss recommendations and rationale for HIV testing.
  • Identify people who would benefit from PrEP and understand prescribing and monitoring recommendations.
  • Describe rationale and approach to selecting treatment regimens for people with HIV.

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and DKBmed, LLC. Postgraduate Institute for Medicine is jointly accredited by the American Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Physician Continuing Medical Education

The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

AAPA Credit Designation Statement – Enduring Materials

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Continuing Nursing Education

The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1.0 contact hours. Designated for 0.5 contact hours of pharmacotherapy credit for Advanced Practice Registered Nurses.

Media: Enduring

Acknowledgement

This activity is supported by an independent educational grant from Merck and Co, Inc.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) requires instructors, planners, managers, and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of this activity to disclose any real or apparent conflict of interest (COI) they may have as related to the content of this activity. All identified COI are thoroughly vetted and resolved according to PIM policy. PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

Faculty / Presenter Reported Financial Relationship

Sandra Springer, MD

  • Consulting Fees (e.g., advisory boards) - Alkermes Inc., DKBmed, CCO (CME activity with support from Gilead)

Justin Alves, RN, ACRN, CARN has nothing to disclose.

Planners and Managers

The PIM planners and managers have nothing to disclose. The DKBmed planners and managers have nothing to disclose.

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer

Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.

Request for Credit

There are no fees for participating and receiving CME/CE credit for this activity.

If you wish to receive acknowledgment for completing this activity, please complete the evaluation.

Contact Information

To contact Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) please visit www.pimed.com.

For technical issues, please contact info@dkbmed.com.

Launch Date: 12/2/2020
Expiration Date: 12/1/2021