Method of Participation to Earn CME Credit

Introduction
Obese individuals face a risk of death that is 10%-50% higher than healthy weight individuals. Fortunately, weight loss can reverse this elevated risk. With the prevalence of obesity in the United States continuing to exceed 30% in most sex and age groups, health care providers are encouraged to increase their role in obesity management. Accordingly, many physicians seek guidance on effective communication techniques and methods for treating obesity.

Join us for an interactive, case-based presentation in which a primary care physician, together with a bariatric surgeon, will address key aspects of contemporary obesity treatment, and provide practical communication techniques to aid clinicians in initiating discussions about weight loss with patients who may be embarrassed or uncomfortable with the subject. This presentation will also answer your questions about various therapeutic options and the important role of the primary care provider (PCP) in identifying and assessing candidates for bariatric surgery, as well as elaborating on the role of the PCP in postsurgery care.

Target Audience
This activity is designed for clinicians with an interest in obesity and bariatric surgery. This complimentary activity consists of a pretest, a case-based Webcast, a posttest, and an evaluation.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this activity, the participant should be better able to:

Release date: August 31, 2010
Expiration date: August 30, 2011

Accreditation and Designation
Physicians
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

TAFP is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

TAFP designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

This activity, Crashing the Obesity Continuum: When to Talk to Your Patients About Weight Loss Surgery, has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 1.5 Prescribed credits by the American Academy of Family Physicians.

This enduring material was originally developed by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians and TCL Institute, LLC in accordance with the ACCME guidelines. As of March 2011, TCL Institute, LLC is no longer in business and any inquiries regarding the activity should be directed to Jessica Miley, Associate Director of Education for Texas Academy of FamilyPhysicians at jmiley@tafp.org. Technical support and web hosting is now provided by MedEdRules, LLC.

Planning Committee

Jeffrey W. Allen, MD
Surgeon
Norton Healthcare
Louisville, KY

Robert F. Kushner, MD
Professor of Medicine
Division of General Internal Medicine
Clinical Director
Northwestern Comprehensive Center on Obesity
Medical Director
Center for Lifestyle Medicine
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL

Edward Baldwin, PhD
Medical Writer

Disclosures
In accordance with the ACCME, the TAFP requires that any person who is in a position to control the content of a CME activity must disclose all relevant financial relationships they have with a commercial interest.

Accordingly:

Dr. Allen reported that he is a consultant for Allergan, Inc., and Ethicon, Inc.

Dr. Kushner reported that he is a consultant for Allergan, Inc.

Edward Baldwin, PhD, medical writer, has nothing to disclose.

The TAFP and TCL Institute, LLC staff that were involved in the development of this activity have no financial relationships with any commercial interests that are relevant to this activity.

To resolve identified conflicts of interest, the educational content was fully peer-reviewed by a physician member of the TAFP Clinical Content Review Committee who has nothing to disclose. The resulting certified activity was found to provide educational content that is current, evidence-based, and commercially balanced.

Disclosure of Unlabeled or Investigational Drugs
This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings. Further, attendees/participants should appraise the information presented critically and are encouraged to consult appropriate resources for any product or device mentioned in this program.

Disclaimer
The content and views presented in this educational activity are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of TAFP; Allergan, Inc.; or TCL Institute, LLC. This material is prepared based upon a review of multiple sources of information, but it is not exhaustive of the subject matter. Therefore, health care professionals and other individuals should review and consider other publications and materials on the subject matter before relying solely upon the information contained within this educational activity.

Please Click Here to Begin the Activity 

This activity is sponsored by the Texas Acadamy of Family Physicians.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Allergan, Inc.