Medscape Education Elevates Commitment to Rare Disease Education with Dedicated Learning Center

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Sep 10, 2021, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on a commitment to educate clinicians on rare diseases, Medscape Education, a leading source of accredited medical education for healthcare professionals (HCPs), has launched Pathways In Rare Disease. This dedicated learning center serves as a centralized location for clinicians who are seeking information about how to diagnose and manage the estimated 300 million people worldwide living with a rare disease.

"Educating clinicians on rare diseases is critical. It may take many years before a patient receives their diagnosis, after seeing multiple different physicians and receiving multiple misdiagnoses. This delay can often be attributed to the lack of familiarity among clinicians about the signs and symptoms associated with rare diseases. A survey of Medscape members showed a small percentage (4% in the U.S. and 17% in Europe) feel confident in their ability to diagnose rare diseases. Medscape's rare disease education center will not only address these learning gaps, but also provide easy-to-access resources for clinicians who are seeking information to share with their colleagues as well as patients and caregivers," said Hansa Bhargava, M.D, Chief Medical Officer, Medscape Education.

Developed in collaboration with international expert faculty and rare disease professional societies and advocacy organizations from around the world, Pathways In Rare Disease will take a deeper look into the challenges patients and their caregivers face as they seek a diagnosis, and provide clinicians with education, information, and critical tools to identify, refer, and manage these conditions.

Lucy McKay, M.D., steering committee member of Pathways in Rare Disease and CEO of Medics 4 Rare Diseases, a registered charity driving an attitude change towards rare diseases amongst medical students and doctors in training, said, "The creation of this dedicated learning center is a momentous step forward in the mission to educate medical professionals about rare diseases. Providing accessible, reliable information about rare diseases is vital to help combat the 'diagnostic odyssey' sadly experienced by so many today. Medscape is a hugely popular and trusted resource for doctors and its prioritization of rare disease sends a big signal to the global medical community that rare disease is relevant, and it needs their attention."

Medscape Education will develop learning activities, tools, and resources to support this growing initiative. The content in Pathways In Rare Disease is available to Medscape members free of charge and offers:

Engaging patient journey videos
Insights and interviews from rare disease experts
Education spanning multiple specialties and healthcare team members
Clinical tools, resources, and references

Pathways In Rare Disease is available at: https://www.medscape.org/sites/advances/rare-diseases

About Medscape Education

Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free CME and CE courses and other educational programs for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals.

SOURCE Medscape Education