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On Saturday, September 9, a free continuing education program will be held for physicians, physician assistants, nurses and nurse practitioners about best practices and quality improvement measures regarding adolescent immunizations, with an emphasis on the HPV vaccine. Titled Vaccinating Today for More Tomorrows, the conference will be held in Danville at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research and live streamed at satellite sites in Emporia at Southern Virginia Regional Medical Center, Farmville at Centra Southside Community Hospital, Martinsville at New College Institute and Richmond at VCU Massey Cancer Center.

Three physicians with expertise in vaccination will speak about effective ways to improve patients’ health outcomes and increase physician office productivity: 

• Alix Casler, M.D., pediatrician, Orlando Health Physician Associates, on simple, evidence-based, long-standing quality improvement measures
• Mark Stoler, M.D., associate director of surgical pathology and cytopathology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, on HPV and his role in HPV vaccine development; and
• Pam Hull, PhD, assistant professor, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, on customizable behavioral intervention tools.

The speakers aim to make this topic easy for health care providers by providing compelling facts, tried-and-true scripts and proven tools. Among the adolescent immunizations discussed will be the HPV vaccine, an effective, safe way to greatly reduce the risk of developing cancers associated with HPV. The human papillomavirus (HPV) is a common infection, infecting 80 percent of all sexually active people. Usually the immune system cleanses the body of the virus and people never knew they were infected. However, when the virus lingers, it may develop into cancer affecting both men and women. In women, HPV strains cause 91 percent of all cervical cancers, 69 percent of vulvar cancers and 75 percent of vaginal cancers, according to the CDC. The virus is also responsible for 63 percent of penile cancers in men and about 70 percent of oropharyngeal cancers and 91 percent of anal cancers in both sexes. 

The program is organized by the Cancer Research and Resource Center of Southern Virginia, an outreach program of VCU Massey Cancer Center with partial funding from the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission; VCU Massey Cancer Center; and PATHS AHEC, and it is sponsored by Sovah Health - Danville. 

The programs at all sites begin with check-in and continental breakfast at 8:00-8:30 am. The program at the satellite sites will end at noon, while the host site in Danville includes lunch and roundtable discussions continuing until 1:30 pm. This program has been approved by VCU Health Continuing Medical Education for a maximum of 4 CMEs at the host site in Danville and 3 CMEs at the satellite sites and by SOVA-Health for a maximum of 3.75 CEUs in Danville and 3 CEUs at the satellite sites. 

Open to the general public, this free program requires advance registration to attend because space is limited. Registration and more information about roundtable topics and discussion leaders is available online at http://bit.ly/2uS6RCJ.  Call 434.421.3060 with any questions.

Written by: Massey Communications Office