Continuing Medical Education Programs

Another talk scheduled for Back Talk, Indiana Spine Group's continuing medical education program is entitled, Spinal Disorders | Uncommon & Difficult. Many times, these patients present with back pain and other symptoms that are similar to many spinal diagnoses, therefore these uncommon problems can be difficult to diagnose.

In one talk, Dr. Michael Stack will discuss benign spinal disorders. This will include a review of rheumatologic and endocrinologic disorders as well as the symptoms, diagnoses and treatment indications. Dr. Stack is a rheumatologist with Diagnostic Rheumatology & Research PC.

Dr. Kenneth Renkens, a neurosurgical spine surgeon with Indiana Spine Group, will discuss the urgent spinal diagnoses. During his discussion, he will identify the red flags of spinal and nonspinal conditions that can present as back pain. This includes infections and vascular disorders. Additionally, he will review the symptoms and diagnostic indications of primary and metastatic spinal cancer. 

During this talk, Dr. Macadeg will discuss the normal spine, and the normal degenerative cascading process of the spine. He will discuss evidence-based guidelines for diagnosing neck and back pain and review recommended spinal diagnostic testing. This review will also include identification of red flags that present as back pain. Additionally, Dr. Macadaeg will discuss the different minimally invasive diagnostic tests and their indications. This discussion will include selective nerve root injects, facet joint injections and discograms. 

As planning continues for the continuing medical education program sponsored by Indiana Spine Group,  Back Talk: Comprehensive Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Disorders, applications for continuing medical education are being submitted. An updated list of all available CME’s is posted on the accreditation section (link to: http://indianaspinegroup.com/backtalk/Accredit2.27.pdf) of the Back Talk page on Indiana Spine Group’s web site. 
 

At this time physicians can receive AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Additionally, this activity has been reviewed and is acceptable for up to 11.75 credit(s) by the American Academy of Physicians. Osteopathic and chiropractic physicians, as well as registered nurses will also receive continuing education credits. An application has been filed for nurse practitioners. 

Planning continues for the annual spine symposium / continuing medical education conference Back Talk. The overall objective of this conference is to provide primary care physicians and practitioners comprehensive information for the diagnosis and treatment of their patients with spinal disorders, injuries and abnormalities. 

At the conclusion of this program, participants will:

·        Provide a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of patients that present with back and neck pain; including the physical exam, imaging and psychological assessment.

·        Review current evidence-based treatments of spinal disorders from a non-operative to an operative perspective; including medical and physical therapy, chiropractic care and when referrals are indicated. 

·        Identify the diagnostic and treatment algorithms of spinal conditions specific to life stages – from the pediatric patient to the older adult; i.e. pediatric injuries, scoliosis, osteoporosis, and the degenerative spine.

·        Discuss spinal injuries resulting from sports activities and trauma, their non-operative and operative treatments as well as preventative measures. 

·        Identify uncommon and difficult causes of spine disorders; including rheumatologic disorders and cancer.

·        Understand the key principles of spine wellness to maintain a healthy spine; i.e. nutrition, lifestyle and exercise.

·        Discuss emerging technologies and the future of spine care. 

For more information, visit the Back Talk information page on Indiana Spine Group's web site.

Planning on the third annual spine symposium / continuing medical education program continues.  This conference entitled, Back Talk:  Comprehensive Concepts in the Diagnosis and Treatment of Spinal Disorders - will address one of the key reasons people visit their physicians, back pain! 

This symposium will discuss the latest spinal diagnostic and treatment information for back and neck problems.  Overall conference objectives include:  

·        Provide a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of patients that present with back and neck pain; including the physical exam, imaging and psychological assessment.

·        Review current evidence-based treatments of spinal disorders from a non-operative to an operative perspective; including medical and physical therapy, chiropractic care and when referrals are indicated. 

·        Identify the diagnostic and treatment algorithms of spinal conditions specific to life stages – from the pediatric patient to the older adult; i.e. pediatric injuries, scoliosis, osteoporosis, and the degenerative spine.

·        Discuss spinal injuries resulting from sports activities and trauma, their non-operative and operative treatments as well as preventative measures. 

·        Identify uncommon and difficult causes of spine disorders; including rheumatologic disorders and cancer.

·        Understand the key principles of spine wellness to maintain a healthy spine; i.e. nutrition, lifestyle and exercise.

·        Discuss emerging technologies and the future of spine care. 

For more conference infomration, visit Indiana Spine Group's web site, or call (317) 228-7000.

At a recent continuing medical education program one of the speakers Dr. James Anderson discussed the assessment of low-back pain.  Dr. Anderson is a family practice physician in Greenfield.

During his presentation, Dr. Anderson highlighted a few spine wellness / patient education sites.  These sites provide spine eucation information as well as other health information on other topics.  These sites are  http://orthoinfo.aaos.org, http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/, and www.uptodate.com/patients.  A few books that he recommended include:  Kortz, JN, Parkinson, G. Heal Your Aching Back.  McGraw Hill, New York, 2007 and Dumhi, HA.  All You Need to Know About Your Back Pain.  Arthritis Foundation, Atlanta, 2002.

Additionally,this link on Indiana Spine Groups web site provides a listing of other useful spine related web sites.   

In July, I presented at the 15^th annual International Meeting of Advanced Spinal Techniques.  I was honored to present two scientific papers at this medical education program.  One was about the US FDA IDE trial for the Bryan cervical disc replacement.  My second presentation was also about the Bryan cervical artificial disc replacement, and was a detailed motion analysis of the Bryan cervical disc. 

Here are links to the abstracts presented –“Radiographic Results from the BRYAN® Cervical Disc IDE Study,”and “Comparison of BRYAN Cervical Disc Arthroplasty with Anterior Cervical Decompression and Fusion: Clinical and Radiographic Results of a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial.” 

Another breakout session, at this continuing medical education symposium for physicians and health care practitioners, will address injuries incurred by athletes and the weekend warrior.  With the increased number of sports activities and programs, unfortunately this also includes an increase in back pain and injuries. 

During this session, Kevin Macadaeg, MD, and Nate Blume, DC, will provide the latest information for the prevention and diagnosis of spine-related sports injuries.  Additionally, they will discuss when spine problems should be evaluated by a spine specialist and what the more serious warning signs are; i.e. stress fractures.

Another special interest symposium for this continuing medical education program is entitled, “The Osteoporotic Spine”.  Co-presenters for this session are Kevin Macadaeg, MD, and Michael Stack, MD.  Dr. Macadaeg is a minimally invasive spine specialist with Indiana Spine Group, and Dr. Stack is a rheumatologist with Diagnostic Rheumatology & Research, PC.

Osteoporosis has been identified as a major health concern, and the National Institutes of Health predicts that one in two women and one in four men over the age of 50 will suffer from a vertebral compression fracture.  Many times, not diagnosed until there is a fracture – this session will highlight the latest screening and diagnostic guidelines and recommendations.  Additionally, there will be a review of the recommended treatments including anti-osteoporotic medications and vertebral augmentation (vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty). 

On Saturday, the Back Talk continuing medical education program will focus on different diagnoses and treatments and will feature concurrent sessions.  These next series of blog entries will highlight these special interest symposiums.

One special interest symposium entitled, The Healthy Spine, will be presented by Alta Skelton.  Alta is a nurse practitioner with Indiana Spine Group.  

During this session, Alta will be discussing how lifestyle can affect the health of one’s spine.  She will address exercise, posture, obesity, smoking and the role of nutrition and diet; and how these key lifestyle factors affect the spine.  Additionally, Alta will discuss key characteristics that dispose an individual to spine problems. 

This continuing medical education program will also provide in-depth information on spine surgery – areas focused on will be lumbar surgery and cervical spine surgery. 

This session will be presented by neurosurgical spine surgeon Kenneth Renkens, MD, and will provide an overview of spine surgery procedures for the lower back and indications. 

Topics discussed will include:

 §     Identify and discuss the indications for common lumbar surgical  procedures, including decompression, lumbar spinal fusion and disc replacement.

On June 4, Indiana Spine Group will host a continuing medical education dinner on treatment options of the osteoporotic spine.  Objectives of this session entitled, “A Current Review of Pharmacologic and Interventional Treatments of the Osteoporotic Spine”, includes: 

• A review of the latest pharmacologic clinical guidelines for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. 
• A discussion of treatment algorithms for the osteoporotic spine; including indications and outcomes of vertebral augmentation. 

 

For more information about this program, please call 317.228.7000.

In addition to continuing medical education credits being provided for physicians, this spine symposium was recently approved for continuing education credits for nurse practitioners.  The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners has approved this symposium for 10.75 credit hours for nurse practitioners.  Additionally, Logan College of Chiropractics will be sponsoring this program for Indiana Chiropractors for 12 hours.  Click here, to read a summary of continuing medical education and continuing education credits provided for this spine symposium.

Last week, I attended and presented at the annual American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons meeting in San Francisco.  This annual meeting is the largest continuing medical education program for orthopaedic surgeons in the world. 

At this continuing medical education meeting, I was honored to be a faculty member.  On Thursday, I presented the radiographic data from a Bryan Disc Study (a cervical artificial cervical disc).  On Friday as a moderator, I was joined by four world renowned experts in the field of spinal trauma.  For this instructional course, we discussed thoracic and lumbar spine fractures.  On Saturday, I participated in a special program devoted to spine surgery.  I joined other world renowned experts on a debate about the proper treatment for cervical radiculopathy.  (A general definition for cervical radiculopathy is disease of the spinal nerve roots or spinal nerves in the cervical (neck) spine.  Many times this is caused by degenerative disc disease).

Planning continues on the spine conference Back Talk!  We are excited to announce our keynote speaker for the conference.  Our keynote speaker is Dr. Stephen Olvey – who recently wrote a book entitled, Rapid Response:  My inside story as a motor racing life-saver. 

Currently, Dr. Olvey is the Director of the Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit at Jackson  Memorial Hospital in Miami and an Associate Professor of Clinical Neurological Surgery for the University of Miami School of Medicine.  Additionally, Dr. officer a medical consultant for the Indianapolis 500 and the chief medical officer for the Grand Prix Master’s Series. 

As keynote speaker at the spine symposium, Dr. Olvey  will talk about “Lessons Learned from Motorsports”  and some of the key objectives he will be addressing are :