Faculty

David Malebranche, MD, MPH
Board-Certified Internal Medicine Physician
Sexual Health and HIV Specialist
Atlanta, GA

Aekata Shah, DO 
Family Physician 
Jefferson NE Juniata Family Practice 
Philadelphia, PA 

Activity Planners

Christie Avraamides, PhD 
Senior Clinical Content Manager 
Med-IQ 
Baltimore, MD 
 
Sara Samuel, MSc, MPhil, MS 
Clinical Content Manager 
Med-IQ 
Baltimore, MD  
  
Lisa R. Rinehart, MS, ELS 
Director, Editorial Services 
Med-IQ 
Baltimore, MD 
 
Samantha Gordon, MS 
Accreditation Manager  
Med-IQ 
Baltimore, MD 

Peter Bidey, DO, MSEd, FACOFP 
Director of Longitudinal Curricular Integration and Active Learning
Vice Chair, Department of Family Medicine
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine
Philadelphia, PA
 

Statement of Need

Despite recommendations from the CDC for universal HIV screening to occur at least once and for rescreening those with an increased risk at least annually, fewer than 40% of US individuals have ever been tested for HIV. Additionally, a model estimating transmission rates along the HIV continuum of care found that about 80% of new HIV transmissions were from people who were unaware of their HIV infection or from people who were aware of their HIV infection but were not receiving regular care. Studies have shown that patients on treatment who achieve viral suppression and have undetectable levels of HIV do not transmit HIV to their partners, a concept known as “Undetectable = Untransmittable,” or U=U. Linkage to care is a crucial step in successful HIV treatment and a precursor to starting antiretroviral therapy and achieving U=U. Because the US is expected to have a shortage of HIV specialists by 2030, primary care providers, including family physicians, play an important role in screening, diagnosing, linking patients to care, and initiating treatment. Primary care providers should be familiar with the concept of U=U and help their patients achieve viral suppression. 

Accreditation Information

The American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) to provide osteopathic continuing medical education for physicians.

ACOFP designates this program for a maximum number of 2.75 AOA Category 1-A credit and will report CME with the extent of the physician’s participation in this activity.

This program is sponsored by ACOFP for educational purposes only. The material presented is not intended to represent the sole or best medical interventions for the discussed diagnoses, but rather is intended to present the opinions of the authors or presenters that may be helpful to other practitioners. Attendees participating in this medical education program do so with the full knowledge that they waive any claim they may have against ACOFP for reliance on any information presented during these educational activities.

Disclosure Policy

It is the policy of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (ACOFP) to ensure balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor in all its individually sponsored or jointly sponsored educational programs. All faculty participating in any ACOFP sponsored programs are expected to disclose to the program audience any real or apparent conflict(s) of interest that may have a direct bearing on the subject matter of the continuing education program. This pertains to relationships with pharmaceutical companies, biomedical device manufacturers, or other corporations whose products or services are related to the subject matter of the presentation topic. The intent of this policy is not to prevent a speaker with a potential conflict of interest from making a presentation. It is merely intended that any potential conflict should be identified openly so that the listeners may form their own judgments about the presentation with the full disclosure of the facts. It remains for the audience to determine whether the speaker's outside interests may reflect a possible bias in either the exposition or the conclusions presented.

Drug/Product Usage by Faculty

Off-label/unapproved drug uses or products are mentioned within this activity.

Disclosures

David Malebranche, MD, MPH
Consulting fees/advisory boards: Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare
Fees received for promotional/non-CE activities: Gilead Sciences

Aekata Shah, DO, has indicated no real or apparent conflicts.

The peer reviewers and activity planners have no financial relationships to disclose.

Statement of Evidence-Based Content

Educational activities that assist physicians in carrying out their professional responsibilities more effectively and efficiently are consistent with the ACCME definition of continuing medical education (CME). As an ACCME-accredited provider of CME, Med-IQ has a policy to review and ensure that all the content and any recommendations, treatments, and manners of practicing medicine in CME activities are scientifically based, valid, and relevant to the practice of medicine. Med-IQ is responsible for validating the content of the CME activities it provides. Specifically, (1) all recommendations addressing the medical care of patients must be based on evidence that is scientifically sound and recognized as such within the profession; (2) all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in CME in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

Med-IQ is not liable for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon the information provided through this activity.

Acknowledgment of Commercial Support

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Gilead Sciences, Inc.
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