The Harvard Medical School Department of Continuing Education introduces an expanded and updated program of speakers and workshops for the Blackburn Course in Obesity Medicine: Treating Obesity 2016. Taking place at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel, the Blackburn Course (June 2-4, up to 26.25 CME credits) is preceded by a comprehensive Board Review Course (June 1, up to 8.25 CME credits) to help prepare for the Obesity Medicine board certification exam. The entire course schedule, including topics and speakers, is available online here.

The Harvard course is designed to give healthcare providers the knowledge to:

• Identify, evaluate and manage patients with high-risk obesity
• Provide lifestyle-based therapies for obesity, including nutritional, physical activity, and behavioral approaches
• Apply effective counseling and behavioral modification techniques
• Apply current pharmacological approaches to the treatment of obesity
• Assess patients for their need and appropriateness for bariatric surgery, determine surgical options, and provide postoperative care

The overall goal of the course is to provide practical tools and strategies for the management of obesity and its complications in diverse populations. This year, the course includes a new lecture segment, Point-Counterpoint, during which attendees will hear from two speakers with differing perspectives on the science of energy balance. This year’s course also includes several new topics and guest lecturers, focusing on the influence of in utero exposures in obesity development, the contribution of the gut microbiota and the role of nutrients, sleep, circadian rhythms, exercise and stress reduction in maintaining a normal energy balance. And with the emergence of new anti-obesity medications and implantable medical devices, effective and appropriate use of these treatment options will be carefully reviewed.

Based on popular case-based workshops, the course also features a new highly interactive case-based workshop for 2016 focused on practice management in the area of obesity medicine. In addition, a skills-based workshop designed to improve participants’ skills in communicating with patients, colleagues and policy makers about obesity has been added to the agenda. Due to its popularity in the 2015 course, the course will also feature a second session of the case-based Advanced Pharmacotherapy workshop, designed for physicians with previous experience using pharmacological treatments of obesity that wish to extend their familiarity with more sophisticated drug-based and combination therapies. The expanded scope of this workshop includes recently FDA-approved, medical devices for treating obesity.

Course Director Lee Kaplan, MD, PhD, notes that “As with our understanding of obesity itself, the discipline of obesity medicine is evolving rapidly. It incorporates aspects of metabolic physiology, nutrition, behavioral sciences, physical medicine, neurobiology, genetics, immunology and developmental biology. The Blackburn course integrates these many facets of obesity medicine into a program that gives practicing clinicians up-to-date tools to address, prevent and treat obesity, as well as strategies to use these tools in the most effective manner.”

For more information about the Blackburn Course in Obesity Medicine 2016, visit http://obesity.hmscme.com/

Candidates for American Board of Obesity Medicine certification following the CME pathway are required to earn 60 CME credit hours, including 30 credit hours in person at a conference or meeting.  For more information about ABOM eligibility requirements, including details about the CME pathway requirements, click here.