Michigan State Medical Society CMEs

I've done the Part 1 webinar. It's easy to register from overseas and it's free. The webinar is 52 minutes long and consists of Dr Lucinda Bateman talking us through the diagnostic criteria.

I am very happy to report that I found it to be really good!

On the whole, it doesn't claim to know more than we really know. The debilitating nature as well as the big range of severities is clear. Doctors who complete this webinar will be fairly well informed about ME/CFS diagnosis.

I think it's suitable to be part of a continuing professional development package for doctors. I have more notes, so I might make more detailed comments later.

I'll have a look at Part 2 tomorrow. Thanks to Joy and Rose for reminding us to take a look at this. I'll be interested to hear what others think.

 

So, I've done Part 2 as lying in bed watching a webinar seemed like a better option than finishing the lawn.

Again, I think Dr Bateman did a really good job on a difficult subject. This webinar focuses on treatment - and pacing is first up and emphasised as the most important strategy. Some speculative treatments and theories are mentioned but, generally, Dr Bateman is good at making it clear when she doesn't have strong evidence.

There's a lot that could be said, and so I'm sure there will be things that people will feel should have got a mention. In particular for me, I think severe ME/CFS was overlooked. I think it might be easy to come away from seeing the webinar and not really get how debilitated a person with severe ME/CFS might be and how much medical intervention they might need for things like feeding.

Exercise is mentioned a bit and, even though Dr Bateman stresses how important it is to avoid PEM, I think the message can be lost when you then talk about e.g. exercising in water. There's also mention of acupuncture and massage for pain; for me, massage causes PEM. I think that gastrointestinal issues should have been covered, as these symptoms can be awful and are a fairly common part of the illness at times.

The webinar is targeted at US doctors. Bits of this one, more than the diagnosis webinar, won't be completely relevant to doctors in other countries.

I think it's a pretty brave attempt to provide very specific advice to doctors managing people with ME/CFS from a clinician who has seen a lot of people with ME/CFS. I think it will be useful.

Worth a watch by the people working on the NICE guidelines @Keela Too, @adambeyoncelowe, @Jonathan Edwards

 

Oh, I forgot to add, for a webinar titled 'Uniting Compassion, Attention and Innovation to treat ME/CFS', I felt there should have been more said about providing broad support for the patient. Things like allowing for phone consultations; informing family; advocating for the person by writing letters to their school or employer; assisting patients to access benefits or home help or motorised mobility aids.

Perhaps it goes without saying that you do these things for chronically ill patients. But so often, these things aren't done.

As I said, I know there is a lot to cover. But if I was going to suggest one improvement to Part 2, it would be to cut out one of the slides on orthostatic intolerance and instead remind doctors that they may be able to reduce the stress of financial worries or dependence on family.