Statement Of Need
The most common skin disorder seen in the United States today is acne vulgaris (acne). If left untreated, acne can have serious physical and psychological consequences. Permanent scarring, disfigurement, anxiety, and depression are among the devastating complications most commonly observed. Because the underlying pathophysiology of acne is multifactorial, the importance of combination therapy to target many pathophysiologic variables of acne cannot be overstated. The benefits of combining acne agents include targeting different pathophysiologic variables, increasing efficacy, improving the speed of lesion resolution, minimizing the potential for antibiotic resistance, and improving patient compliance.

Combining a topical retinoid with either a topical or an oral antibiotic and benzoyl peroxide is now considered the standard of care for patients with both comedonal and inflammatory acne. Clinical studies have supported faster and improved clearing of both inflammatory lesions and comedones with combination therapy when compared with antibiotic therapy alone.

The need for proper timing, selection of retinoid agent, and proper administration to maximize efficacy and minimize compatibility and chemical stability issues necessitates ongoing education on the use of this category of agents for the management of acne.

Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this symposium, participants should be better able to:

Purpose Statement
This program is designed to provide nurses and other healthcare professionals with an update on the standard of care for treating patients with acne and offer strategies to increase patient compliance and adherence.

Target Audience
This activity has been developed for dermatology nurses and physician assistants.

Credit Designation
CNA/ANCC
This educational activity for 1.0 contact hours is provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM).

PIM is an approved provider of continuing nursing education by the Colorado Nurses Association, an accredited approver by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

California Board of Registered Nursing
Postgraduate Institute for Medicine is approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number 13485 for 1.2 contact hours.

A statement of credit will be issued only upon receipt of a completed activity evaluation form and will be mailed to you within 3 weeks.

Disclosure OF Conflicts Of Interest
Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) assesses conflict of interest with its instructors, planners, managers and other individuals who are in a position to control the content of CME activities. All relevant conflicts of interest that are identified are thoroughly vetted by PIM for fair balance, scientific objectivity of studies utilized in this activity, and patient care recommendations. PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality CME activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest.

The faculty reported the following financial relationships or relationships to products or devices they or their spouse/life partner have with commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity:

Cathleen Boeck, RN, CCRC, DNC, has no real or apparent conflicts of interest to report.

Heather L. Roebuck, MSN, APRN, BC, has received consulting fees for her participation in an advisory board for Amgen and Intendis, and has received honoraria for her participation on the speakers’ bureau for Abbott Laboratories, Amgen, and Ranbaxy Laboratories.

Hope Sylvain, APRN, BC, DNC, has received consulting fees for her participation in an advisory board for Collagenix Inc.

The following PIM clinical content reviewers, Jan Hixon, RN, Linda Graham, RN, and Trace Hutchison, PharmD, and the following SynerMed^® Communications project staff, Robin Pearson, Jennifer Garey, June Basile, and Joan Gay, hereby state that they or their spouse/life partner do not have any financial relationships or relationships to products or devices with any commercial interests related to the content of this CME activity of any amount during the past 12 months.

Method of Participation
There are no fees for participating and receiving CME credit for this activity. During the period May 2008 through May 31, 2009 participants must 1) read the learning objectives and faculty disclosures; 2) study the educational activity; 3) complete the posttest by recording the best answer to each question in the answer key on the evaluation form; 4) complete the evaluation form; and 5) mail or fax the evaluation form with answer key to Postgraduate Institute for Medicine.

A statement of credit will be issued only upon receipt of a completed activity evaluation form and a completed posttest with a score of 70% or better. Your statement of credit will be mailed to you within 3 weeks.

Disclosure Of Unlabeled Use
This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM), SynerMed^® Communications, and Medicis do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications.

The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of PIM, SynerMed^® Communications, and Medicis. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Disclaimer
Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient’s conditions and possible contraindications on dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer’s product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.