Short course: Migraine Management for Practitioners

What you will learn

Overview

A passion to share specialist knowledge and skills in the treatment of migraine, Prof Tissa Wijeratne's new venture, Migraine Management for Practitioners, provides healthcare professionals with the latest clinical advances to improve patient lives. The course includes a comprehensive and practical diagnosis approach, management plans for acute headache attacks and preventative strategies to manage migraines. Tissa believes by transferring knowledge to primary healthcare professionals, headache sufferers will be diagnosed and treated more timely manner, rather than waiting for a specialist care.

Migraines are a leading cause of adult disability with an estimated five million headache sufferers in Australia (GBD collaborators, Lancet Neurology, 2017). A lack of access to neurologists means primary healthcare physicians need to understand the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of migraines to effectively manage their many patients who suffer from this debilitating condition. Education focused on the essentials of migraine management, which transfers specialist knowledge from neurologists to general practitioners, will improve the lives of these patients.

Course Director Tissa Wijeratne, Chair of Academic Medicine and Director of Neurology at Western Health, and his team of neurologists have developed this dynamic course to capture the most recent clinical research and developments in migraine management. The course includes a comprehensive and practical diagnosis approach, management plans for acute headache attacks and preventative strategies to manage migraines. Tissa believes by transferring knowledge to primary healthcare professionals, headache sufferers will be diagnosed and treated more timely manner, rather than waiting for specialist care.

Designed for

Primary health care physicians who require an understanding of headache management, including general practitioners, physician trainees, practice nurses, general physicians and medical students.

Learning Outcomes

1. Identify chronic migraine patients and commence patient-specific preventative therapy.
2. Develop a checklist to assist patients who are at high risk of medication overuse and implement appropriate preventative options.
3. Prepare a comprehensive psychosocial assessment and implement holistic care for headache patients with special attention to non-pharmacological approaches (stress management, daily walks, good sleep hygiene).
4. Develop a comprehensive management plan for acute management of migraine and recognise the two clinical goals in acute management.
5. Recognise the dangerous red flags such as subarachnoid hemorrhage or acute stroke presenting with headache.

Knowledge and Skills

• Diagnostic criteria
• "Red flags" and consideration of differential diagnoses
• Preventative measures encompassing non-pharmacologic and pharmacologic therapies

• Tutorial 1: Acute Migraine
• Tutorial 2: Chronic Migraine
• Tutorial 3: Medication Overuse Headache
• Tutorial 4: Other Primary Headaches
• Tutorial 5: Secondary Headaches

The assessment is submission of 6 self-assessments and 20 case studies. A Certificate of Completion is provided upon satisfactory completion of the course.

Approximately 8 hours of eLearning. This course is delivered online and students can study in their own time and location. Course materials can be accessed using a web browser.