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LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to:

  • Describe the basic pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis and how it leads to the common cognitive, emotional, and physical symptoms. 

  • List at least one theory of for the etiology of multiple sclerosis. 

  • Describe at least two facts about the epidemiology of MS. 

Course Summary

In this module, we will be learning about the basic pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis, different theories of etiology, and basic epidemiology. In addition to the physical symptoms found in multiple sclerosis, 65% of individuals with this disease experience cognitive impairment, and 50% experience at least one significant episode of depression.

Understanding the basic pathophysiology of MS can help psychologists and mental health providers understand the etiology of these cognitive and emotional symptoms that are so pertinent and relevant to psychological assessment and treatment.

Additionally, it is helpful for mental health providers to understand the basic epidemiology and theories of etiology around multiple sclerosis to adequately address:

  • unhelpful or inaccurate thought patterns (e.g., guilt or self-blame for contracting the disease or worry about passing the disease to offspring),
  • identify and address health behaviors that could increase the risk of developing MS or leading to faster progression (e.g., smoking), and
  • correct misinformation about the racial and ethnic make-up of those that develop MS.

Course Curriculum

Created & Published: January 6, 2022

    1. Course Instructions

    2. Consume Course Content the Way YOU Learn Best - Podcast, Transcript, or YouTube Video

    3. What is MS? Post-Test Assessment

    4. What is MS? Course Evaluation

    5. BONUS Content - Resource Page for Your Clinical Practice

About this course

  • Free

References

Find Empathy Education is Based in Research

  • Ramagopalan, S. V., Dobson, R., Meier, U. C., & Giovannoni, G. (2010). Multiple sclerosis: risk factors, prodromes, and potential causal pathways. The Lancet. Neurology, 9(7), 727–739. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.1016/S1474-4422(10)70094-6

  • Degelman, M. L., & Herman, K. M. (2017). Smoking and multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis using the Bradford Hill criteria for causation. Multiple sclerosis and related disorders, 17, 207–216. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.1016/j.msard.2017.07.020

  • Thompson, A. J., Banwell, B. L., Barkhof, F., Carroll, W. M., Coetzee, T., Comi, G., Correale, J., Fazekas, F., Filippi, M., Freedman, M. S., Fujihara, K., Galetta, S. L., Hartung, H. P., Kappos, L., Lublin, F. D., Marrie, R. A., Miller, A. E., Miller, D. H., Montalban, X., Mowry, E. M., … Cohen, J. A. (2018). Diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: 2017 revisions of the McDonald criteria. The Lancet. Neurology, 17(2), 162–173. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30470-2

  • Alschuler KN, Whibley D, Kratz AL, Jensen MP, Wundes A, von Geldern G, Qian P, Bombardier CH, Ehde DM. Quality of life in individuals newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis or clinically isolated syndrome. J Neurol. 2021 Oct 19. doi: 10.1007/s00415-021-10842-w. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34665331.

  • Celius, E. G., Thompson, H., Pontaga, M., Langdon, D., Laroni, A., Potra, S., Bharadia, T., Yeandle, D., Shanahan, J., van Galen, P., Alexandri, N., & Kesselring, J. (2021). Disease Progression in Multiple Sclerosis: A Literature Review Exploring Patient Perspectives. Patient preference and adherence, 15, 15–27. https://doi-org.proxy1.library.jhu.edu/10.2147/PPA.S268829

Instructors

Associate Professor University of Washington School of Medicine Kevin Alschuler, PhD

Kevin N. Alschuler, PhD, is a psychologist in the Seattle, WA. Dr. Alschuler works in chronic illness and injury rehabilitation as part of UW Medicine. As an Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology in the University of Washington School of Medicine, Dr. Alschuler provides clinical care and conducts research in the UW Medicine Multiple Sclerosis Center where he also serves as Co-Medical Director and Co-Director of the UW Multiple Sclerosis Rehabilitation & Wellness Research Center.

Doctoral Student University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Ashley Pike

Ashley graduated from Iowa Western Community College in 2007 and worked as a licensed veterinary technician for 10 years while earning her BS at Bellevue University in 2011. She continued as a laboratory technician and graduate student in the Creighton University Clinical and Translational Sciences Master’s certificate program, where she conducted research in swine cardiovascular models. Ashley was accepted into the UAMS Ph.D. Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences in 2017, where she has transitioned from working with animal models to human subjects. For her Ph.D. thesis, Ashley has spearheaded a collaboration between Neurobiology & Developmental Sciences, Neurology, Neuropsychology, and the BIRC to compare structural and functional neuroimaging predictors of declining cognition and disability in patients with multiple sclerosis. She wishes to continue her postgraduate career in these same disciplines.

Founder of The Boster Center For Multiple Sclerosis Aaron Boster, MD

Dr. Boster is a board-certified Neurologist specializing in Multiple Sclerosis and related CNS inflammatory disorders. He decided to become an MS doctor at age 12, as he watched his uncle Mark suffer from the disease in an era before treatment was available. Dr. Boster grew up in Columbus, Ohio and attended undergraduate at Oberlin College. He earned his MD at University of Cincinnati College of medicine and completed an internship in Internal Medicine and Residency in Neurology at the University of Michigan. He then completed a two-year fellowship in Clinical Neuroimmunology at Wayne State University. Since then, Dr. Boster has been intimately involved in the care of people impacted by Multiple Sclerosis; He has been a principal investigator in numerous Clinical Trials, trained multiple MS Doctors and Nurse Practitioners, published extensively in medical journals. He lectures to both patients and providers world-wide with a mission to EDUCATE, ENERGIZE and EMPOWER people impacted by MS. He lives in Columbus, Ohio with his son Maxwell.

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Approved CE Provider
PSYCHOLOGISTS
Empathie, LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Empathie, LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

COUNSELORS. Find Empathy has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7257. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Find Empathy is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.
SOCIAL WORKERS
Find Empathy, #1817, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period:
 06/14/2022 – 06/14/2023.   Social workers completing this course receive 1.5 continuing education credit.



How to Take this Course & Criteria to Receive CE Credit

To obtain a certificate of completion for continuing education credits associated with this course, please follow the following steps:

  • ENROLL in this course and create an Empathy account

  • COMPLETE COURSE CONTENT in one of 3 ways:
    • Listen to the corresponding course podcast by streaming it on the webpage, downloading the audio file, or listening to it on your favorite podcast provider.
    • Read the podcast transcript, in its entirety
    • Watch podcast video on YouTube

  • TAKE THE POST-TEST assessment and achieve a passing grade of at least 75%

  • Complete the COURSE EVALUATION

Remember, full attendance is required for all CE activities. This means you will be asked to certify that you listened, watched, or read the entire podcast episode.
Once you have completed the above steps, your course certificate will automatically populate for download and will automatically be sent to the email linked to your account. It can be downloaded immediately and will be available for future download.

Accommodations

It is absolutely critical that our program exemplifies accessibility for all participants.

We seek to ensure all participants are able to fully, equally, and independently access the educational content. Our goal is to have a website that is perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust. If you have any difficulty navigating the website, we want to know! Please contact us at info@findempathy.com.

While our educational offerings are primarily in podcast format, we also provide a written transcript for each course. It will be available on the course landing page and available for download in PDF format.

CE credits require a post-test assessment. The assessment is untimed and provided in writing on the course website. However, for individuals with visual impairments, or those that may benefit from an orally presented post-test and program evaluation, contact us. We will work with you to find an alternative option for completing the course post-test and program evaluation.

We remain available and open to ANY additional requests for format modification or additional assistance.

If any accommodations are needed to enroll or participate in the course, or complete the post-test and course evaluation, please contact us at info@findempathy.com.

Access & Expiration Information

COURSE ACCESS
Once enrolling in a course, you will have 30 days to complete the post-test and course evaluation. If your access lapses before completing all tasks, you will need to re-enroll.

CERTIFICATE ACCESS
Once you have completed the post-test and program evaluation, your certificate will be immediately available for download. Access to the certificate will expire after 365 days. Find Empathy will keep course certificates on file for 7 years. If a certificate is needed, contact info@findempathy.com.

POST TEST RETAKE POLICY
You are allotted 3 retries to achieve the acceptable 75% passing grade.

Additional Information

WHO IS THE COURSE FOR?
This course is intended for psychologists and social workers.
It is also appropriate for mental health counselors and therapists.
The instructional level is at the introductory and intermediate level.

COURSE FORMAT
The primary format of the course is podcast; a non-interactive distance-learning recorded audio continuing education course.

It is available via all major podcast providers including, but not limited to Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, and more. You can also listen to the podcast via the player on our website or download it for free to your favorite digital device.

To ensure our course material is accessible, we also provide the content in video (with subtitles) and written forms.

COMMERCIAL SUPPORT
There is no known commercial support or conflict of interest for this CE program, content, or instructor(s).

QUESTIONS?
Contact us at info@findempathy.com. We will do our best to return your email within 24-48 hours during business hours: Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm eastern.

If you have any questions, concerns, or grievances please email us at info@findempathy.com.

You can also see our grievance policy via the following link: https://findempathy.com/grievance

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