Partnership with Novartis brings
evidence-based CME to Swiss physicians

Small-group sessions allow program participants to discuss specific cases with specialty experts.

Novartis Pharma Schweiz, one the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, has extended its relationship with HMI as part of a long-term strategy for providing continuing medical education (CME) programs for Swiss physicians. The success of courses on cardiology in 2004 and neurology, oncology, and cardiology in 2005 has paved the way for a wide range of general and specialty programs led by faculty from both Harvard Medical School and academic medical centers in Switzerland. As of this writing, more than 350 physicians have attended HMI-Novartis programs.

Novartis’s renewed agreement with HMI extends over three years, during which HMI will develop a minimum of three CME courses each year. The partners work together to identify program topics, and HMI selects a HMS faculty course director and recruits HMS and international experts to serve as faculty, taking into account recommendations from Novartis. Each program blends didactic lectures, interactive case discussions, and small-group breakout sessions into a two-day event that provides a wide range of clinical information, as well as opportunities to discuss specific cases and network with fellow practitioners.

“At HMI we create partnerships with organizations that share our commitment to making up-to-date health care information available to practicing physicians. The HMI-Novartis CME programs enable us to do this while reaching a large cross-section of specialists and general practitioners in Switzerland,” said Harvey Makadon, MD, HMI vice president of health systems, and director of clinical CME. “As with all of our CME programs, just as important is the need for specialty experts to talk with local doctors and learn about the practical issues they face every day in their communities.”

The progress of health care delivery in western Europe has resulted in a significant shift in the burden of disease, with an aging population increasingly susceptible to chronic conditions such as coronary artery disease. At the same time, advances in the field of medicine have caused the medical knowledge to grow exponentially, challenging physicians in busy practices, sometimes in remote areas, to keep up with the latest updates on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.

HMI works closely with Novartis and Swiss experts to tailor program content to specific challenges faced by Swiss and German physicians, and to ensure that course content is free of conflicts of interest, says Peta Gillyatt, HMI associate director for continuing medical education and knowledge management. “With all of HMI’s CME initiatives, the faculty maintain editorial independence and develop the course content with a focus on evidence-based medicine.”

Paul Goss: Programs are “of great local interest and relevant to clinical practice.”

Paul Goss, MD, PhD, the course director for the breast cancer program, concurred, saying that “the programs are of great local interest and relevant to clinical practice. Having HMI involved ensures that faculty are editorially independent.” Indeed, faculty and participants alike have pointed out that they were delighted to attend a course that, although hosted by a pharmaceutical company, focused entirely on the scientific and clinical issues at hand.

Dr. Theodor Sproll, chief executive officer of Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, has been very pleased with the success of the programs. “This collaboration with HMI allows Novartis Pharma Schweiz AG, together with Swiss medical experts, to offer a unique series of CME programs. The program format is designed to summarize the latest international medical and scientific knowledge and transform it directly into daily medical practice,” he said. “The composition of the faculty for each course, which includes experts from HMI and the Harvard Medical School community, as well as local experts, ensures at the same time that any locally specific health care demands or concerns are well reflected within this program.”

Novartis head Theodor Sproll

The first HMI-Novartis CME program was held in June 2004, with Gerald Smetana, MD of HMS and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) directing a two-day course on advances in cardiology. The course was well received by the participants, who cited the editorial independence of the content and the evidence base of the lectures, case discussions, and presentations. A second cardiology program followed in November 2004. Since then HMI and Novartis have held programs on breast cancer (March 2005), advances in neurology for the older patient (April 2005), and a third cardiology course (June 2005). HMI seeks to have the programs accredited by the appropriate Swiss medical societies, and presents each participant with an HMI certificate of attendance.

More programs are planned for this year. Novartis will host two programs in September. Jane Ballantyne, MD, FRCA, associate professor of anesthesiology at HMS and Massachusetts General Hospital, will direct a one-day course on pain management in Geneva and in Bern. The following week, Martin Sanda, MD of HMS and BIDMC will lead a program on prostate cancer. In addition, Novartis has partnered with HMI to present a one-day symposium focusing on signal transduction inhibition and other state-of-the-art approaches to targeting cancer at the molecular level. For more information about these programs, please visit
www.practi-med.com/switzerland.html.

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