DIGS – Pioneering initiative of CME Universe (CME division of Indegene) with Dermatology Dept of Bangalore Medical College

Bangalore, 11th January 2007: CME Universe (CME division of Indegene) and Dermatology Department of Bangalore Medical College along with American Academy of Continuing Medical Education today announced the launch of Dermatology Invited Guest Lecture Series (DIGS) - A Continuing Medical Education (CME) initiative for a year long lecture series on dermatology related topics. 
               
Dr P S Prabhakaran, Vice Chancellor, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences inaugurated the event. The objective of this program is to update the Consultant Dermatologists, Faculty of Medical Colleges and PG Students in current clinical trends in the field of Dermatology, Venereology and Leprology. This is the first initiative in the field for providing AACME accredited courses for Dermatology via the medium of guest lectures. Dr. S. Sacchidanand M.B.B.S., M.D., D.V.D., D.H.A, Professor and Head of the Department, Department of Dermatology, S.T.D., & Leprosy, Bangalore Medical College, is the Course Director for DIGS (Dermatology Invited Guest Lecture Series).

According to Dr. S. Sacchidanand Course Director, DIGS, “Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a proprietary system to deliver comprehensive, cost-effective learning with applications for physicians, medical students, pharmaceutical companies, academic medical centers, and healthcare delivery organizations. The DIGS lecture series will be on any of the topics ranging from Clinical Dermatology, Acne and acne form eruptions, fungal infections, HIV, Dermato-surgery, Cosmetology, Dermato-histopathology, and Atopic Dermatitis. The value addition would be the AACME accreditation of the whole Program. The presentation and articles received would be the copy right of DIGS”
The first DIGS will be held on Clinical Dermatology, which includes a series of 6 Guest Lectures, from January 2007 till March 2007. This will be held on 2nd and 4th Friday of every month at Seminar Hall of Department of Dermatology & S.T.D., Victoria Hospital, from 1.30 PM onwards. (Luncheon meeting) The first lecture happened on same day after the inauguration by Dr S.C. Rajendran who is the president of Bangalore Dermatological Society.

In the words of Dr. Sanjay Parikh, Director Indegene Lifesystems Private Limited “We are pleased to launch DIGS. Since year 2000, Indegene has been developing CME programs in partnership with leading medical associations, teaching institutions and clinical experts across India and Asia. Indegene CME programs have been used in the past by various Medical and Pharma institutions” 
Accredited CME is a well-recognized need across the world by physicians. CMEuniverse Indegene and Bangalore Medical College is pioneering this concept of AACME accredited courses for practitioners of Dermatology, Leprology and Venerology in Medical Institutions. It will not only update the knowledge base of the course takers but will also give them a platform to learn from rich original medical education content and programs that combine interactive, case-based learning with proprietary technology. COSMECON – 2006, a conference, held during July 2006, exclusively dealing with the field of Cosmetology was the first conference in India to be accredited by AACME. It was again the Joint initiative of Bangalore Dermatological Society and Indegene. 
 
CMEuniverse is a pioneering initiative by Indegene to promote continuing medical education for the medical fraternity. Indegene is utilizing Live CME, Distance learning CME courses and high penetration and growing acceptability of the Internet as a powerful and effective educational medium to disseminate clinical knowledge. As a part of this initiative, Indegene has partnered with the best of Indian academic centers, Medical Associations and Conferences as well as International CME providers like JHU, Cleveland Clinic, AACME and Doctor Online, UK to bring the latest medical education to doctors.

Dermatology is a diverse specialty. It is one of the few areas of medicine in which a specialist can be both physician and surgeon, treating malignant and non-malignant diseases in a population ranging from infants to adults. The important advances in dermatology, to name a few, are the ways in which dermatology has exploited advances in molecular biology, pharmacology, and physical therapeutic techniques, permitting improved patient management. in the future. Detailed epidemiological studies will enable physicians to recognize who is at risk of particular dermatological conditions. Establishment of familial tendencies will allow more detailed genetic and molecular biological investigation. With time, improved understanding of the genetic basis and molecular biology of skin disease will result in current empirical treatments becoming more specific to the underlying abnormality.

About Indegene Group
Indegene is a global provider of knowledge-intensive services that span a full spectrum of integrated scientific promotions, medical education, and business analytical solutions for pharmaceutical, medical device, and health care organizations. Indegene has offices across India, Asia Pacific (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Philippines), Australia as well as subsidiaries in the United States. The firm boasts a highly specialized team of physicians and medical professionals, content developers, analysts, brand managers, and medical communication experts. Indegene’s pioneering global delivery model for pharmaceutical services leverages its multi-geography, multimarket advantage to deliver medical content and communication services that provide significantly higher return on investment and shorter delivery time for clients.