Two faculty members of the Wayne State University School of Medicine took part in creating a web course that will be viewed worldwide by cardiothoracic surgeons treating patients with antiplatelet therapies.
Robert M. Mentzer Jr., M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and senior advisor to the president for medical affairs; and Salik A. Jahania, M.D., associate professor of Surgery and associate program director of the Cardiothoracic Residency, Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, collaborated in the webcasting of "The Impact of Antiplatelet Therapy in Cardiac Surgery: Current Practices, Conundrums and Controversies." Dr. Jahania presented for the course, filling in for Dean Mentzer, who was suffering a bout of laryngitis at the time of taping. Dean Mentzer developed content for the course.
"The Web will be used more and more by physicians to share information," Dean Mentzer said. "It's a tool that doctors are tapping into more frequently, and it definitely helps provide a venue through which physicians can update their information and skills without having to incur the costs of travel for traditional seminars and courses."
The course acknowledged that the benefits of dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome prior to coronary angiography are proven, and discussed the risks of excess bleeding should these patients require coronary artery bypass grafts. The course covered current guidelines to minimize bleeding risk in these patients.
"The Web has been increasingly seen as the favored portal for medical professionals worldwide to seek up-to-date medical information at the convenience of their time and place," Dr. Jahania said. "It is used as a lecture tool, and a lot of colleges and residency programs routinely use the webcasts at their weekly conferences instead of actual invited speakers to disseminate medical information."
Dr. Jahania said that while he has not previously participated in the taping of such courses, he is interested in utilizing the Web as a medium for education. "I have thought about using the Web to teach overseas medical students as part of an outreach effort," he said.
Robert W. Emery, M.D., editor in chief of the Journal of Heart Valve Disease and director of Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery at St. Joseph's Hospital in St. Paul, Minn., served as course moderator. In addition to Dr. Jahania, the other presenter is Christopher P. Cannon, M.D., F.A.C.C., senior investigator of the TIMI Study Group at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Mass.
The course was developed under the auspices of the Potomac Center for Medical Education, which is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. The course will be available for viewing through Dec. 30, 2009, and can be viewed by registering at http://www.potomacme.org/index.php/online/cabg-2008/.