Breast Imaging Continuing Medical Education Series for 2012 & 2013

The Ellen Shaw de Paredes Breast Cancer Foundation in partnership with the University of Virginia Office of Continuing Medical Education, has developed the Breast Imaging Intensive Interactive Workshop Series, a continuing medical education program that consists of six education programs covering Breast MRI Interpretation and Interventions, The Art of Mammographic Interpretation and Interventional Breast Procedures.

Dr. Christine Denison received a recognition award as The Katherine Hardin Honorary Lecturer at the Art of Mammographic Interpretation CME program from Dr. Ellen Paredes and Betty Lee, one of Mrs. Hardin’s closest friends. Dr. Denison, an Assistant Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School, will be teaching two CME programs this year.

In its seventh year, the series has been inspiring, motivating and very educational for those physicians and technicians who attended. The participants, while coming from diverse backgrounds and experiences, have one common denominator: the passion for becoming better practitioners and offering better care for their patients. All those in attendance benefit from the course content, whether the attendee is on staff in a large hospital setting, starting an imaging center of his or her own, or making the transition to digital mammography in his or her practice. The enthusiasm and interest in the course content is universal and creates an environment of open dialogue among the attendees who share commonalities of their practices. In 2012 and 2013, the series includes these one day sessions:

Breast MRI Interpretation and Interventions – This one day intensive seminar is an overview of Breast MRI Interpretation and Interventions. Participants will be taught in an interactive small group approach that encompasses didactic lectures with open discussions and a hands-on workshop in the MRI Suite. The course covers the techniques, roles and fundamentals of interpretation of breast MRI, focusing on the detection and diagnosis of breast cancer and the interventional approach to management of MRI detected abnormalities. The course is open to physicians with an interest in breast imaging and to MRI and breast imaging technologists. Completion of this activity will provide 8 CME credits toward Breast MRI accreditation. SAM credits will also be available. In the interactive workshops the participants will travel to the MRI Suite where they will interpret cases and will biopsy phantoms under MRI guidance.

The Art of Mammographic Interpretation – This course is a one day offering designed for Radiologists with a basic knowledge of mammography. The course is focused on improving interpretation skills in mammography. The seminar will include three formats to maximize the educational value to the participants: lectures, challenging case self-skills assessments and unknown case reviews and discussions. The audience response system is used for participants to interpret unknown cases for self-testing. Participants will interpret 100 unknown mammograms as part of the training course. SAM credits will be available. Participants may also claim up to 2 hours of credit in digital mammography. At the completion of the course the participant should have improved his or her skills in the interpretation of mammograms in detecting breast cancer and in confirming benign disease.

Interventional Breast Procedures: This course provides specific training in stereotactic and ultrasound guided biopsy procedures. Participants will be trained in procedure performance and troubleshooting and will have an opportunity to perform biopsy procedures on breast phantoms using stereotactic, ultrasound and MRI equipment in the clinical setting. An emphasis will be placed on proper patient management from pre-assessment through pathologic correlation of the mammographic findings. Participants who complete the course may claim 4 hours of credit toward stereotactic biopsy accreditation, 4 hours toward ultrasound biopsy and 4 hours toward MRI accreditation.

The Foundation’s Breast Imaging Intensive Interactive Workshop Series is leading the way in changing how physicians approach the early detection of breast cancer.
To download a copy of the Breast Imaging Intensive Interactive Workshop Series, please
click here.