Primary Care

This CMEO BriefCase will discuss the health care challenges of a racially diverse young mother and her 2-year-old child, and how to encourage vaccinations as preventative measures for both. Expert faculty will discuss potential barriers and hesitancies for this mother to vaccinate herself and her child, along with strategies to ameliorate disparities in vaccination rates.

In this CME Outfitters BriefCase, we will follow Maria, a 52-year-old Latina woman who has been diagnosed with obesity and type 2 diabetes, as she navigates the healthcare system seeking respectful and holistic medical care. Expert faculty will discuss the nuances of the case and will highlight the importance of recognizing not only the healthcare disparities related to obesity in general, but also the intersectional impact that obesity can have on preexisting racial and ethnic disparities in healthcare outcomes.

Obesity affects more than 44% of post-9/11 U.S. Veterans—far surpassing rates in the general population—and is closely tied to chronic health issues such as cardiovascular disease, osteoarthritis, and diabetes. Despite the known risks, uptake of evidence-based treatment remains low. Fewer than 5% of Veterans in VA obesity programs receive anti-obesity medications (AOMs), and fewer still achieve meaningful weight loss. Unfortunately, weight stigma persists in clinical encounters, eroding trust and limiting effective engagement. Moreover, Veterans often face unique structural and psychosocial challenges that complicate obesity care, including mental health concerns. This education initiative aims to equip health care professionals with current evidence on pharmacologic options, strategies for comprehensive care planning, and guidance for bias-free, respectful communication. With obesity recognized as a chronic disease requiring sustained intervention, education is critical to update perceptions and treatment pathways that improve outcomes for Veterans struggling with weight and its related complications.

In this interactive infographic activity, an expert faculty in the science and clinical implementation of vaccines provides the foundation for empathetic, evidence-based discussions with patients and caregivers, addressing concerns and promoting informed decision-making. Strengthening these skills is vital to sustaining immunization programs, preventing outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases, and ensuring the health and well-being of communities worldwide.

This CMEOCast podcast will focus on the negative impact of inequitable access on surgical weight-loss procedures, including the key contributing factors for disparities in weight-loss surgery and strategies for mitigating these disparities.

In this CMEO podcast, expert faculty will present the challenges to equitable vaccination rates for all patients, for a variety of vaccinations, and discuss how best to learn from previous attempts to ensure current and future vaccination can occur for all patients.

In this installment of the popular CMEO podcast series on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), Drs. Peek, Stanford, and Noble discuss the influence of implicit bias, health disparities, and health inequities on the quality of care for patients with obesity. Practical approaches to self-reflection, recognition of potential bias, and positive action are explored.

In this CME Outfitters Snack, expert faculty and a patient advocate will discuss clinical experience, study information, updates to guidelines, resources, and how to integrate sensitive and respectful discussions about anal cancer risk, prevention, and screening into everyday clinical workflows to improve outcomes for patients at high risk for anal cancer.

In this CME Outfitters Snack, part of a series on health access, social responsibility, and obesity care, expert faculty will address key health inequities associated with obesity in adults in underserved communities and how caregivers can work within multidisciplinary teams to implement effective, culturally tailored strategies to address those inequities.

In this CME Outfitters Snack, part of a series on health access, social responsibility, and obesity care, expert faculty will identify the complex factors contributing to obesity as a chronic disease, including genetic, socioeconomic, and cultural influences, and discuss how to implement multidisciplinary, patient-centered, shared decision-making strategies to individualize care and combat barriers to equity in obesity care.

In this CME Outfitters Snack, part of a series on health access, social responsibility, and obesity care, expert faculty will identify key cardiometabolic comorbidities associated with obesity in a range of communities, their impact on overall health outcomes, and how to implement culturally tailored, multidisciplinary strategies to address them.

In this CME Outfitters Snack, part of a series on health access, social responsibility, and obesity care, expert faculty will identify recent shifts in obesity diagnosis and management based on the latest guidelines, and focus on personalized, guideline-based strategies for obesity care that address disparities, cultural considerations, and effective long-term management utilizing a multidisciplinary team of caregivers.