• Press Release

Mount Sinai Launches First Ever HPV-Associated Oral and Throat Cancer Course on Coursera Platform

  • New York, NY
  • (December 07, 2016)

Mount Sinai’s Departments of Academic Informatics and Technology and Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery, in conjunction with the Office of Continuing Medical Education (CME) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, have launched the first-ever Coursera course on HPV-associated oral and throat cancer.

The course offers CME credit on the Coursera MOOC (massive open online course) platform.  This marks the second CME course offered by the Department of Otolaryngology on Coursera and can be found at https://www.coursera.org/learn/hpv-oral-throat-cancer.  

Eric M. Genden, Dr. Isidore Friesner Chair of the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and Chief of the Division of Head and Neck Oncology, is instructing the course, called “HPV-Associated Oral and Throat Cancer: What You Need to Know.”  It has been designed to educate primary care physicians, otolaryngologists, dentists, and health care professionals about the growing epidemic of HPV-related oral and throat cancers.  They can learn more about the detection and diagnosis, along with treatments and vaccinations.

“HPV-related head and neck cancers are now an epidemic and this course is a critical step to understanding the process of this disease,” said Dr. Genden. “It’s important for otolaryngologists, primary care physicians and dentists to be able to detect early stages of these cancers and improve the chances of successful patient outcomes.”

The course is divided into four modules:

  • Module 1: HPV-associated Throat Cancer: An Epidemic (11 min + quiz)
  • Module 2: HPV Risk Factors and Clinical Presentation (10 min + quiz)
  • Module 3: Management of HPV-associated Oropharyngeal Cancer (13 min + quiz)
  • Module 4: Prevention, Vaccination, and the Horizon (10 min + quiz)

Participants may take the course at no cost, pay $49 for the official Coursera Certificate, or pay a total cost of $79 ($49 + $30) for the Coursera Certificate and CME enrollment. Physicians participating in this course have the option to receive 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ after successfully completing the course and obtaining a Coursera Certificate.  All quizzes must be completed and participants must obtain a score of 75 percent or higher. The course is also being made available to the general public without certificate.

"The course offering has a global reach and will improve access to authoritative and peer-reviewed content on this important topic,” explained Paul Lawrence, Vice President of Academic Informatics and Technology and Associate Dean at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  “This online initiative vastly improves the learner’s experience, as it enables physicians seeking CME to connect with original Mount Sinai content anywhere, anytime on a variety of mobile platforms.”

How to Take the Coursera Course

For those who are new to the Coursera online learning platform, the following is a guideline for completing the course and obtain credentials:

  1. Create a user ID and password on www.Coursera.com
  2. Select the “HPV-Associated Oral and Throat Cancer: What You Need to Know” course and enroll into the course
  3. Complete the Signature Track to receive the Coursera Certificate if interested in doing so (details follow after enrolling in the course)
  4. Take the course by clicking on “Course Content” and selecting the desired module you wish to take (this can be done all at once, or parceled by module on different days) and complete the quizzes at the end of each module
  5. For those interested in receiving CME credits, complete the registration process through the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s CME Office at http://mshs.co/SUxzr
  6. Email an attached copy of your Coursera Verified Certificate with subject line “Coursera CME” to cme@mssm.edu and request your CME certificate

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 7,300 primary and specialty care physicians; 13 joint-venture outpatient surgery centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida; and more than 30 affiliated community health centers. We are consistently ranked by U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals, receiving high "Honor Roll" status, and are highly ranked: No. 1 in Geriatrics and top 20 in Cardiology/Heart Surgery, Diabetes/Endocrinology, Gastroenterology/GI Surgery, Neurology/Neurosurgery, Orthopedics, Pulmonology/Lung Surgery, Rehabilitation, and Urology. New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai is ranked No. 12 in Ophthalmology. U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Children’s Hospitals” ranks Mount Sinai Kravis Children's Hospital among the country’s best in several pediatric specialties.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on FacebookTwitter and YouTube.