Friday’s “Advances in Care for Parkinson’s Disease” symposia will be the latest in a series that stretches back to at least 1990 for John Bertoni, M.D., Ph.D., UNMC professor of neurological sciences and the director of the Parkinson’s Disease Program.
These Parkinson’s symposia are an important combined annual event, Dr. Bertoni said, because they include both a professional medical educational (CME) component and a patient-centered event.
At capacity
Both symposia are currently at capacity with more than 450 people attending the combined symposia.
“We used to give separate conferences — one for the continuing education credit for the professional, and another for patients and caregivers — on different dates. We now do these two symposia in conjunction with each other,” Dr. Bertoni said. “One year, I decided why not combine the two? We get outstanding thought leaders from around the country to be our keynote speakers. This year, it’s Virgilio Evidente, M.D., from the Movement Disorders Center of Arizona.”
Diego Torres-Russotto, M.D., will direct this year’s CME program while Dr. Bertoni directs the patient/caregiver symposium.
The result, Dr. Bertoni said, are cutting-edge combined symposia with top-notch national and local speakers who will also share their expertise in a way that is meaningful to patients and their families.
It’s a “round robin” style event, with speakers moving from one symposium to the other. Dr. Evidente, for example, will speak on the latest efforts in Parkinson’s research to both audiences. The year’s symposia includes speakers not only from other departments — Timothy Malloy, M.D., an associate professor of family medicine, and Steven Wengel, M.D., chair of UNMC’s Department of Psychiatry — but from other institutions, as well.
“We first reach out for the CME program and get the best people we possibly can — national experts in the field of Parkinson’s disease,” Dr. Bertoni said. “Then we ask them to give another lecture right next door for patients and caregivers, and they are all happy to do so.
“Both symposia are in the same venue. We have one area for informational booths for those that provide support for these symposia, and there the patients and speakers can mix. We’ve done it so long, it seems to work very well.”
Monnie Lindsay, Nebraska state director, Parkinson’s Action Network, agrees. She is a frequent attendee of the conference, and this year, she is particularly interested in a presentation on visual dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease by Shirley Blanchard, Ph.D., and Karen Wilson, O.D.
“These conferences provide us with the knowledge, the insight and the tools to live with this relentless disease,” Lindsay said. “The speakers explore the new research in the area, and then they explain aspects of the disease — such as what it can do to your vision — and that is very helpful.”