About

SMA is pleased to announce that the 15th Annual Osteoporosis Conference will take place July 26-28, 2012, at the beautiful Kiawah Island Golf Resort, Kiawah, South Carolina!

Why SMA CME?

Because Southern Medical Association (SMA) has over 25 years of experience in providing high quality, accredited CME programming which meets and exceeds the needs of our attendees. This commitment to excellence was recognized by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education with the November 2011 awarding of Accreditation with Commendation to the SMA. This top ranking recognizes SMA as a learning organization and a change agent for the physicians it serves and demonstrates an environment in support of physician learning and change that is a part of a system for quality improvement.

Accreditation

Southern Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award

Southern Medical Association designates this Live activity for a maximum of 13.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Plan to Arrive Early and Get Even More CME!

Bring your family and plan to come early and stay the entire week and also attend SMA’s Focus on the Female Patient Conference, July 23-26 – and earn up to an additional 21.75 credits!  This full week of quality continuing medical education, combined with the beauty of Kiawah Island, will fulfill your CME needs in a relaxing location.  For complete details, visit www.sma.org/female-patient.

Learning Gap

Osteoporosis remains an underdiagnosed and undertreated condition. Recent reports about atypical femoral shaft fractures and osteonecrosis of the jaw have led many clinicians to refrain from treating patients and many patients to discontinue their medication. Clinicians are getting conflicting information regarding when to initiate treatment, how to monitor patients being treated and when to stop treatment.  The availability of medications that can significantly reduce the risk of fracture and re-fracture mandates that most patients with osteoporosis should be actively treated.

The purpose of the activity is to increase awareness of osteoporosis and its potential impact on morbidity and mortality and confidence level in prescribing FDA approved medication for osteoporosis while establishing a good rapport with the patient to ensure compliance. Although most of the emphasis will be on clinical issues, basic sciences will be included in some aspects. The unique feature of this program is that it is entirely devoted to osteoporosis and covers 3 mains aspects: diagnosis, management and adverse effects of treatment modalities. The format also encourages interaction between participants and faculty and has gradually evolved over the past 14 years taking into account the needs of individual participants as well as recent development in the field.

Target Audience

This activity is designed for healthcare professionals who care for patients at risk for or suffering from osteoporosis, including primary care, family practice, gynecology, internal medicine, obstetrics, pediatrics, adolescent medicine, endocrinology, geriatrics, orthopaedics, radiology, osteopathy, physiatry, and rheumatology. Others who will benefit include pharmacists, registered nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, physical therapists, and technologists who work with physicians to diagnose and treat patients with osteoporosis and other allied healthcare providers who work, or have an interest, in the field of bone densitometry.

Objectives

At the completion of this activity, participants should be more competent to:

• Improve identification of patients with Osteoporosis or at risk for developing Osteoporosis
• Identify potential benefits and adverse effects of FDA approved medications for Osteoporosis
• Tailor management of Osteoporosis to particular needs of individual patients

Conference Syllabus/Faculty Slides

As part of the growing commitment to conserve natural resources, a flash drive of the faculty slides/handouts will be provided to each registrant onsite instead of a printed copy of the materials. The faculty slides will be available on a private website prior to the conference for electronic download if you wish to have a paper copy to follow onsite. Additionally, you may insert the flash drive in your laptop (with battery power support) to follow along at the conference. The flash drive is an easy-to-transport resource for post-conference review.

Contact Information

Conference sponsored by Southern Medical Association, an ACCME accredited provider.  For questions or special needs call 1-800-423-4992 or 205-945-1840, ext. 620.  Most requests received at least two weeks prior to the conference can be accommodated.

SMA Cancellation/Registration Refund Policy

Conferences are subject to cancellation. SMA will not refund travel costs if the conference is cancelled. Refunds are not given for inclement weather. Registration fee refund requests must be in writing. A refund of your registration fee, minus a $50 administration processing fee, will be granted if notice is received by ten days prior to the conference date. After this time, no refunds will be granted.

Conference Registration Fees – New Pricing for 2012!