Precision medicine can allow physicians to predict more accurately which treatment and prevention strategies will work for their patients. But the rapid advancement of precision medicine makes it difficult for physicians and other health professionals to become adept at understanding when and how to apply genomic information in patient care.
To help physicians, the AMA Ed Hub™—your center for personalized learning from sources you trust— offers a series of short, free online CME modules covering specific topics in genomics and precision medicine.
Developed by the AMA, Scripps Research Translational Institute and The Jackson Laboratory, all six CME courses are part of the “Precision Medicine for Your Practice” series, which will have 10 CME modules in all.
These CME courses further the AMA’s efforts to help physicians get the tools and knowledge they need to properly incorporate precision medicine into practice to improve health outcomes. Find out what each CME module has to offer.
Exome Testing for Diagnosis. This CME module can help you learn how to collaborate with patients and genetic specialists around exome testing, a relatively new option for diagnosis that is designed to examine the sequences of all genes.
This module can help primary care physicians and other specialists:
- Identify patients who may benefit from exome testing.
- Talk with patients and families about exome testing to support their decisions about genetic counseling and genetic testing.
- Recognize clinically significant exome test results for use in patient care.
- Collaborate with genetic experts in ongoing patient management and evaluation.
Genomic Testing for the Healthy Individual. Healthy people can access a growing number of genomic tests that provide information about health risks as well as other characteristics. Physicians have a range of knowledge and confidence regarding counseling patients about the results from these tests. Because of this, there is a need for increased physician awareness of resources available to help interpret and prioritize results from these tests.
In this CME module, you can learn how to elicit patient motivations for genomic testing and how to assess whether a genomic test is a good fit for their concerns. Content presented in this module can help physicians:
- Understand the benefits and limitations of different types of genomic tests.
- Know what types of information are available from different types of tests.
- Increase their awareness of resources available to help interpret and prioritize results from genomic testing.
Interpreting Results from Somatic Cancer Panel Testing. Also referred to as tumor genomic testing, somatic cancer panel results can identify potential treatment options for patients. But physicians and other health professionals often struggle to understand the results. This CME module is available to help physicians:
- Identify important test characteristics.
- Compare and contrast offerings from different laboratories.
- Find actionable information on the test report.
- Interpret results in the context of the individual patient.
Exploring Somatic Cancer Panel Testing. Large somatic cancer panels test for dozens or hundreds of variants that may be driving cancer growth and suggest therapeutics targeted to variants that are identified. This CME module addresses when these panels should be used and which patients are good candidates.
Prenatal Cell-free DNA Screening. This CME module focuses on the benefits and limitations of cell-free DNA screening in prenatal care. Prenatal providers and patients have more options than ever for screening for Down syndrome and other chromosome conditions, including cell-free DNA screening.
Also called noninvasive prenatal testing, cell-free DNA screening is a powerful tool, but it is not the best test for all pregnant women. Physicians can learn whether this screening is appropriate for the patient and how to interpret results.
Expanded Carrier Screening. This CME module helps physicians identify appropriate candidates for expanded carrier screening (ECS) and how to interpret results of ECS in the context of patient characteristics.
The AMA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The AMA designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
