Faculty:
Donald Voltz, M.D.
Accomplished Anesthesiologist with over 20 years of experience: Master of Science in Anesthesia Program 2011 Outstanding Attending Award – Case Western Reserve University 2011 Resident Teaching Award – Department of Anesthesiology, Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals of Cleveland 2002 Masters in Anesthesiology Faculty Teaching
Overview: We have all progressed through a period in our lives that we have not personally experienced before. For nearly the past 2 years, we have been living on the frontlines of science, health which has greatly impacted every area of our lives. Prior to December 2019, SARS-CoV-2 was an almost completely unknown virus to most of us and had yet to impact our health and lives. We learned about testing, epidemiology, transmissions, vaccination, and critical illness. Some have personally been impacted and have lost friends and loved ones. With all of the information and uncertainty, it is time to take a step back to dig into some of what we have learned so as to be more educated in our personal and health decisions. This activity is a high-level overview of concepts such as testing, transmission, treatments and the emergence of viral variants that have continued to impact the prolongation of this pandemic. It is my hope that you will learn some concepts and be able to understand them so as to make decisions for yourself. Objectives: 1 – Define the different modalities of testing for SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible COVID-19 disease 2 – Describe the tools that are being used to answer the questions such as, have you recently been infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus? How do we know if you are still able to spread this virus to others? 3 – Differentiate the use of vaccination and other useful pharmacologic options, in the mitigation of this pandemic as well as how these tools currently remain useful for the emergent viral variants. 4 – Illustrate how the vaccine and other treatments have been found to decrease the severity of COVID-19 in vaccinated people, but do not eliminate the potential for transmitting the infection to others. 5 – Describe some of the ways this virus has been changing since the introduction into the human population and how the new delta variant has taken over as the primary virus being spread around the world. 6 – Consider how other viral variants could potentially emerge and why it is important to continue to monitor for new variants in an effort to develop strategies to limit the human toll that might arise from them.
Activity release date: 11/10/2021
Expiration Date: 11/10/2024
Estimated Time to Complete: 1.0 Hour(s)
Total Credits Earned For All Courses: 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
Target Audience: This activity is intended for all medical professionals in dealing with patient care and COVID-19.
Relevant Financial Disclosures: The following faculty, planners, and reviewers have no relevant financial relationships with commercial interests to disclose.
Donald Voltz, MD (Faculty)
Kimberly Archuleta (Ala Carte CME. Planner)
Brian McAlary, MD (Planner, Reviewer)
Karen Kaminskas (Reviewer)
Contact Information: For questions regarding the content or access to this activity, contact Kimberly Archuleta/ kimberly@alacartecme.com Instructions for Participation: Participants must complete the activity online during the valid credit period that is noted above. Follow these steps: 1. Read the target audience, learning objectives, and faculty/planner/reviewer financial disclosures provided above. 2. View the video and other required educational content provided on this course page, including a self-reflective quiz for promoting retention of knowledge. 3. After completion of the viewing of the video and other materials, you will be provided access to the Activity Evaluation. We request you complete the Activity Evaluation to provide the necessary feedback for continuing accreditation purposes and for the development of future activities. 4. Additional optional articles on this topic are included for your review. ***NOTE Please fill out the Post Activity Evaluation after the last lesson to receive 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™.
Total Credits Earned For All Courses: 0
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Medical Academy and Ala Carte CME. Medical Academy is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.