After completing her residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, Susan Blank joined U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s (CDC’s) Epidemic Intelligence Service in Environmental Health. She has continued to work for CDC in the Division of STD Prevention, and is a CDC field assignee to the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH). There she directs the Bureau of STD Control and is an Assistant Commissioner. The recent past has been notable for the rebranding of the clinics from “STD” to “Sexual Health” clinics; the initiation of biomedical, status neutral HIV care and prevention, including the navigational services needed for smooth patient transitions to longer term care, and the expansion of reproductive health services; and various innovative sex-positive media campaigns (‘We’ve Got You Covered’ and “Get Checked’. The Bureau includes a budget of $ 30 million, ~ 300 staff, 8 Sexual Health Clinics, Units for STD Surveillance and Epidemiology, Policy, Assurance, Technology Initiatives, budgeting and human resources. She has over 20 years’ experience in the control and prevention of sexually transmitted infections, and made numerous peer-reviewed contributions in her field.
At the completion of this educational session, learners will:
- Be familiar with the current epidemiology of STIs in NYC, and nuances of prevention messaging to patients on PrEP and HIV-treatment with viral suppression.
- Know the appropriate STI tests and specimen collection techniques, treatments, and follow-ups for routine asymptomatic screening, testing after known exposure, and symptomatic disease.
- Understand the limitations of commercially available diagnostic tests for these STIs.
- Know the current recommendations for empiric treatment of STIs, re-treatment in cases of treatment failure or drug resistance, and strategies to reduce risks for transmission of emerging drug-resistant (or novel) STIs.
This CME activity was approved for
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ on September 19, 2017 and will terminate September 18, 2020.
The target audience is all physicians, NPs and PAs involved or interested in HIV education.
This online video and post-activity evaluation are one hour in length.
After you complete the video portion of this educational activity there will be a post-activity evaluation and quiz.
You must achieve at least 70% correct to receive your CME certificate.
If successful, you will be provided instructions to print your CME certificate at the completion of this activity.
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) and the Physicians’ Research Network (PRN). MSSNY is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The Medical Society of the State of New York designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with extent of their participation in the activity.
Policies and standards of MSSNY require that speakers and planners for CME activities disclose any relevant financial relationships they may have with commercial interests whose products, devices or services may be discussed in the content of a CME activity.
Dr. James Braun (Planner/Course Director) had no relevant financial relationships to disclose.
Dr. Blank (Presenter) has no relevant financial relationships to disclose. Dr. Blank submitted her slides in advance for adequate peer review, and will support her presentation and clinical recommendations with the best available evidence from the medical literature.
This PRN CME activity is funded in part by unrestricted educational grants from:
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead Sciences, Merck & Co, and ViiV Healthcare.
To obtain CME credit for this PRN program, please visit the
PRN Courses Page at the Clinical Education Initiative (CEI) web site. PRN and the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY) jointly sponsor PRN enduring materials for CME, and provide them at no cost to the AIDS Institute of the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) for broadcast through the CEI. We thank the NYSDOH for making our CME programs available to a wider audience, and hope you will also browse the many other educational opportunities offered by the CEI.
