MD Learning Channel – Free CME Opportunities

Bronchial Thermoplasty (BT) is an FDA approved procedure for adult patients with severe asthma who remain poorly controlled despite compliance with medical therapy. BT employs heat, delivered by thin wires fed down the airway, to reduce the amount of excess smooth muscle in the airway.

Mark Dransfield MD, covers two major topics in this presentation from the 2013 UAB Pulmonary and Critical Care Update symposium. Bronchial thermoplasty offers help to those asthma patients who are unable to be adequately controlled despite available medications.

Mark Dransfield, MD, professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy & Critical Care Medicine, discusses the clinical and molecular phenotyping, current ongoing clinical trials, the heterogeneity of acute exacerbations, and the future of research in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Hitesh Batra, MD, Director of the Interventional Pulmonology & Pleural Disease Program at UAB Medicine, performs two bronchoscopies both of which are for lung nodules that are concerning for lung cancer.

Britney Corey, MD, discusses the pre-operative optimization of certain risk factors for ventral hernia repairs.

Gregory Kennedy, MD, PhD discusses a logical approach to benign anorectal disease.

Julio Garcia-Aguilar, MD, PhD, discusses the application and advantages of robotics in colorectal surgery at UAB Medicine.

Melanie Morris, MD, discusses the epidemiology, evaluation, and treatment of acute non-complicated diverticulitis and complicated diverticulitis.

Daniel I. Chu, MD, discusses hereditary colorectal cancers and when you should consider referring your patient for genetic testings.