Finalist
GEMME: Medical Education Dedicated to Dermatology
Summary of work
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed far-reaching challenges on global society. Most notably, the significant burden of essential mask-wearing – not only on those with existing facial skin diseases, but on frontline healthcare providers themselves.
Facial dermatoses such as acne and rosacea can have a debilitating impact on quality of life. An online patient survey on mask-wearing indicated that the pandemic had significantly worsened signs and symptoms, compounded by service disruption to HCP consultations, isolating patients.
Self-medication and poor treatment compliance has been greatly exacerbated over the course of the pandemic. It not only affects patients – most healthcare providers that reported adverse reactions to mask-wearing didn’t seek treatment.
A 4-part virtual webinar series, ’Unmasking Facial Skin & Dermatoses’ was launched by Galderma in May 2021 on a bespoke platform, designed to reach a critical mass of dermatologists.
Partnering with multidisciplinary experts from research and clinical practice, an insight-based programme with cutting-edge content was developed to share learnings and improve diagnosis and management.
With over 8,000 registrations and 3,382 attendees from over 40 countries worldwide, the series was an unquestionable success. 93% of attendees stated the content was ‘relevant or very relevant’ for their clinical practice, reinforcing its educational value.
Judges’ comments
This programme was set up very well, with a very comprehensive approach to setting up the challenge of the impact of mask-wearing on dermatological conditions. The objectives were very ambitious and through a clear and methodical programme they delivered some very impressive metrics.
