Asthma Resources for Health Care Providers

The Mass General Brigham Asthma Center is committed to sharing information about asthma, both at an introductory level and state-of-the-art developments in asthma pathobiology and management, with other healthcare providers.

We offer educational programs for physicians (Asthma Grand Rounds and Update on Severe Asthma); for nurses, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, respiratory therapists, and pharmacists (Asthma Educators’ Institute’s Becoming an Asthma Educator course); and for community health workers, practical nurses, medical assistants, and personal care attendants (Learn and Teach the Asthma Basics).

Asthma Educators' Institute

Our Asthma Center formed its Asthma Educators’ Institute in 2003 with the purpose of providing continuing education about asthma and allergies to allied health professionals, including those who were preparing to take the National Asthma Educator Certification Board examination in order to become a certified asthma educator. Our live programs stopped in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, but an online version of our Becoming an Asthma Educator course was fully updated and re-recorded in 2024, and is available online.

Becoming an Asthma Educator course information

Becoming an Asthma Educator is an online program with current information on asthma diagnosis, assessment, and treatment. It consists of a series of 9 video recordings, each approximately 40-45 minutes in length, and each followed by self-assessment multiple-choice questions with discussion of correct answers. It is designed to help allied health professionals to become qualified asthma educators. The registration fee is $75.

Module #1 Understanding & Teaching the Mechanisms of Asthma
Module #2 Diagnosis & Assessment of Asthma
Module #3 Introduction to Pulmonary Function Testing
Module #4 Ambulatory Management of Asthma in the Adult
Module #5 Special Considerations in Children
Module #6 Assessing & Managing Allergic Sensitivities
Module #7 Inhalers & Other Asthma-Related Devices
Module #8 Managing Exacerbations of Asthma
Module #9 Developing an Asthma Action Plan

In support of improving patient care, Mass General Brigham is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Nursing

Mass General Brigham designates this activity for 6.75 ANCC contact hours. Nurses should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Physician Assistants

Mass General Brigham has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 6.75 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Approval is valid until June 2025. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.

Asthma Grand Rounds

Mass General Brigham Asthma Center offers its Asthma Grand Rounds via live webcasting 5 times a year. This program provides up-to-date information on asthma and related topics for physicians and other healthcare providers with a special interest in asthma. It is available online at no charge. Live attendance is accredited by Harvard Medical School for 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

Support the Asthma Center

Asthma Center Grand Rounds’ podcast

You may subscribe to podcasts of Mass General Brigham’s Asthma Center Grand Rounds presentations on Apple Podcasts.

Archived presentations which may be available upon request include:

Obesity and Asthma: Curiosity or Causality by Dr. Kelan Tantisira
Churg-Strauss Syndrome: A Clinical Update by Dr. Michael Wechsler
Asthma Outcomes: How We Choose the Right Measure? by Dr. Anne Fuhlbrigge
Beta-Agonists: Our Response is in Our Genes by Dr. Elliot Israel
Pro-Con Debate: Inhaled Steroids are Safe, Even in Very Young Children
Pro Position: Resolved: Inhaled Corticosteroids Should Be First Line Therapy for Asthma in Children by Dr. Henry Dorkin
Con Position: Steroids at a Price? by Dr. Bernard Kinane
The Ins and Outs of T cell Trafficking in Asthma: by Dr. Andrew D. Luster

Subscribe to the podcast

Update on Severe Asthma

The Mass General Brigham Asthma Center, together with the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Severe Asthma program, offers an annual Update on Severe Asthma course each March, approved for CME credit by Harvard Medical School. It is offered in hybrid format, with both in-person and on-line attendance.

Course program for Update on Severe Asthma 2025

Visiting Professor Medical Grand Rounds

Annually since 1991 we have invited distinguished scientists from around the world to visit our Asthma Center and give Medical Grand Rounds at the Brigham and Women’s Hosptial and Massachusetts General Hospital. Since 2001 this Visiting Professorship has been named in honor of Jeffrey M. Drazen, MD, a “founding father” of this unique collaboration between allergists and pulmonologists at multiple hospitals and community practices in the Mass General Brigham healthcare system.

Mucus plugs in the airway: an under-appreciated pathology in asthma and COPD by John V. Fahy, MD, MSc (2024)
My pediatric patient with asthma: your future adult one? by Francine M. Ducharme, MD, MSc (2023)
Environmental contributions to health disparities in obstructive airway disease by Nadia N. Hansel, MD, MPH (2022)
Severe asthma beyond T2 inflammation: what’s next? by Christopher Brightling, MD (2021)
Asthma management: new facts burst old rules by Roland Buhl, MD (2019)
When and how does asthma begin? by Robert F. Lemanske, Jr., MD (2017)

Research at the Asthma Center

The Mission Statement of the Mass General Brigham Asthma Center articulates a commitment "to develop new knowledge about asthma and its management through relevant medical research." In this spirit, members of the Mass General Brigham Asthma Center continue to build on a rich tradition of contribution to the body of medical knowledge about the mechanisms and treatment of asthma and related diseases. We are pleased to number among the members of our faculty many acknowledged world leaders engaged in this pursuit. We encourage you to peruse the wide variety of material that they have produced in recent years.

The Asthma Research Center at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital in conjunction with Harvard Medical School and the Mass General Brigham Asthma Center is dedicated to conducting research that advances the treatment and understanding of asthma.

Our research investigations in asthma are varied. Our goals at the Asthma Research Center include determining how to best use currently available drugs, examining the potential effectiveness of new drugs and therapies, and trying to increase the understanding of the mechanisms of asthma in the hope of developing new therapies.

Call us at 617-732-8201 or 1-888-99-ASTHMA to get more information or to see if you qualify.