Archives of Internal Medicine Reader's Choice: Continuing Medical Education FREE

Physicians with current and valid licenses in the United States, Canada, or Mexico who read any 3 of the selected continuing medical education (CME) articles in this issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, complete the CME Evaluation Form, and fax it to the number or mail it to the address at the bottom of the CME Evaluation Form are eligible for Category 1 CME credit. There is no charge.

The American Medical Association (AMA) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to sponsor continuing medical education for physicians. The AMA designates this educational activity for up to 1 hour of Category 1 credit per Archives of Internal Medicine issue toward the AMA Physician's Recognition Award (PRA). Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that were actually spent in the educational activity.

Physicians with current and valid licenses in the United States, Mexico, or Canada are eligible for CME credit even if they live or practice in other countries. Physicians licensed in other countries are also welcome to participate in this CME activity. However, the PRA is only available to physicians licensed in the United States, Canada, or Mexico.

To earn credit, read the articles designated for CME credit carefully and complete the CME Evaluation Form. The CME Evaluation Form must be submitted within 4 weeks of the issue date. A certificate awarding 1 hour of Category 1 CME credit will be faxed or mailed to you; it is then your responsibility to maintain a record of credit received. Questions about CME processing should be directed to The Blackstone Group; fax: (312) 269-1636.

One of our goals is to assess continually the educational needs of our readers so we may enhance the educational effectiveness of the Archives of Internal Medicine. To achieve this goal, we need your help. You must complete the CME Evaluation Form to receive credit.

For a complete description of the ARCHIVES' mission statement, please refer to the table of contents.

A flexible curriculum of article topics is developed annually by the journal's editorial board and is then supplemented throughout the year with information gained from readers, authors, reviewers, and editors. The Reader's Choice CME activity allows readers, as adult learners, to determine their own educational needs and to assist the editors in addressing their needs in future issues.

Readers of the Archives of Internal Medicine should be able to attain the following educational objectives: (1) select and read at least 3 articles per issue to gain new medical information on topics of particular interest to them as physicians, (2) assess its value to them as practicing physicians, and (3) think carefully about how this new information may influence their own practices.

The following articles in this issue may be read for CME credit:

An Update on Perioperative Management of DiabetesArticle

Educational Objective: To understand issues in the management of diabetes in the preoperative period.

Cigar Smoking and Death From Coronary Heart DiseaseArticle

Educational Objective: To understand the risk of early death from coronary heart disease in cigar smokers.

Asthma Self-management: Do Patient Education Programs Always Have an Impact?Article

Educational Objective: To learn the effect of asthma self-management programs for adults on health outcomes.

Persistent Stress as a Predictor of Genital Herpes RecurrenceArticle

Educational Objective: To understand the potential relationship between life stress and genital herpes.

Pneumococcal Vaccination of Elderly Persons and Chronic Lung DiseaseArticle

Educational Objective: To learn the health and economic benefit associated with pneumococcal vaccine in a high-risk group.

Early Switch From Intravenous to Oral Antibiotics and Early Hospital DischargeArticle

Educational Objective: To understand the impact of early switch to oral antibiotics and early hospital discharge in patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Facilitation of Benzodiazepine Therapy Discontinuation by Melatonin TherapyArticle

Educational Objective: To learn a new clinical approach for the facilitation of benzodiazepine discontinuation by melatonin.

The Association Between Antecedent Vancomycin Treatment and Hospital-Acquired Vancomycin-Resistant EnterococciArticle

Educational Objective: To further define the risk of hospital-acquired vancomycin-resistant enterococci in patients treated with vancomycin.

Diabetes Mellitus and Nontraumatic Lower Extremity Amputation in Black and White AmericansArticle

Educational Objective: To understand the effects of race and diabetes on 20-year risk of nontraumatic lower extremity amputation.