Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers Puts Together a Special MS Month Agenda

The Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) is partnering with a number of organizations during Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month in March to provide education, research and services to the MS community.

CMSC is a non-profit organization that provides educational programs and resources to MS professionals, healthcare providers, researchers and the MS community in general.

“CMSC is proud to support MS Awareness Month and year-round provide tools and resources to the entire team involved in MS care” to generate “positive outcomes for those affected by this complex disease,” June Halper, the chief executive officer of CMSC, said in a press release.

Among the resources CMSC provides are:

• MS Teamworks — an online portal including 20 inspirational talks in which members of the MS community share their stories and disease expertise.
• Managing MS: a Team Approach — a full-day rehabilitation-focused meeting organized in collaboration with Nurse Practitioner Alternatives (NPA). It helps rehabilitation professionals integrate a team approach, working collaboratively with other team members to optimize rehabilitation care and ultimately improve MS patients’ outcomes. The meeting will take place in the greater New York City area on April 6 and in Chicago on April 21.
• Support from the Foundation of CMSC — for mentorship forums, scholarships for residents, and research fellowships aiming at training future MS experts.
• MS Certification Programs — available for specialists and nurses, and a newly announced healthcare associates’ exam in addition to a Certification Examination in Rare Neuroimmunologic Disorders.
• Gaining the National MS Society’s endorsement of the North American Registry for Care and Research in MS (NARCRMS) — a physician-based MS registry and database of medical records and patient-centered outcomes under the auspices of CMSC.
• Continuing Healthcare Education — after receiving Continuing Education Joint Accreditation, the CMSC now offers college credits to healthcare professionals through the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) and the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE).

The CMSC will also hold its 32^nd CMSC Annual Meeting from May 31 to June 2 this year at the Music City Center in Nashville.

The event targets researchers and healthcare professionals working in the field of MS. The program includes lectures, workshops, symposiums, courses, roundtables, panel discussions, posters and presentations that insure a cross-disciplinary curriculum that fits participants’ multidisciplinary backgrounds.

This year the event will cover 11 topics, including advocacy, comprehensive care, nursing, rehabilitation, skills development and wellness. Also included is a meeting about MS registries around the world aimed at beginning a broad collaboration that can streamline and do a better job of disseminating important data and statistics on MS.