Welcome to
Hidden in Plain Sight:
Bias, Diagnosis and Care in
Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and
Connective Tissue Disorders
1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ or 1.5 Nursing Credits
for only $50
Every clinician has encountered them.
The patient with years of unexplained symptoms. Multiple specialists. Extensive testing. Long medication lists. Frustration, anxiety, and a seemingly endless stream of complaints that don't fit a clear diagnostic pattern.
These encounters can be challenging, time-consuming, and emotionally draining for both providers and patients. Yet hidden among these complex presentations may be a rare disorder that has gone unrecognized for years.
Hidden in Plain Sight: Bias, Diagnosis and Care in Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and Connective Tissue Disorders is an immersive educational experience designed to help healthcare professionals navigate some of the most complicated patient encounters in clinical practice. Through expert instruction, real-world case studies, theatrical pedagogy, audience engagement, and small-group discussion, participants will gain practical tools for evaluating, diagnosing, and managing patients whose symptoms are often misunderstood, dismissed, or attributed to other causes.
With a special focus on Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS) and related connective tissue disorders, this training explores the complex clinical presentations, co-occurring conditions, chronic pain challenges, and psychosocial burdens that frequently accompany these disorders.
What You'll Learn
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Identify the clinical features of connective tissue disorders, including Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and associated co-occurring conditions.
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Evaluate complex symptom presentations more effectively through focused, empathetic, and efficient patient encounters.
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Assess connective tissue-related pain and formulate evidence-informed pain management strategies.
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Develop practical approaches for coordinating care in patients with multisystem involvement and chronic symptoms.
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Improve communication skills that build trust, strengthen therapeutic relationships, and enhance patient outcomes.
Why This Course Matters
Patients with connective tissue disorders often spend years searching for answers. During that journey, many are labeled as anxious, noncompliant, attention-seeking, or medically unexplained. For clinicians, these encounters can feel frustrating and unsatisfying when symptoms appear disproportionate, diffuse, or resistant to treatment.
This course helps bridge that gap.
By sharpening diagnostic reasoning, enhancing communication skills, and providing practical strategies for managing complexity, Time to Listen equips clinicians to approach challenging cases with greater insight, efficiency, and effectiveness.
Join us and discover how listening differently can change the trajectory of care—for your patients and your practice.
Method of Participation and Request for Credit
In order to obtain your CE certificate, please follow the steps below at the conclusion of the activity:
1) Go to www.cmeuniversity.com
2) Login or Create a New Account (will take less than 1 minute)
a) If you receive a message when creating a new account that “the email you entered is already in use”, please click the forgot my username or password link to have your Username and Password sent to you via email
b) After logging in, you may be asked to verify/update your information; after doing so, click Save at the bottom of the page
3) Type in 19239 at the top of the page, in the left-hand searchbar under “Claim CME Credits: Post Test/Evaluation, and click Enter
4) Click on the activity title when it appears
5) Choose the type of credit you desire
6) Complete the online Evaluation
7) Receive an immediate CE Certificate to download and/or print for your files
Important Information
Hidden in Plain Sight: Bias, Diagnosis and Care in Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and Connective Tissue Disorders is jointly provided by Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and Pathways To Trust. This activity is intended for physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners and physician assistants engaged in the care of patients with Connective Tissue Diseases.
The online course, Hidden in Plain Sight: Bias, Diagnosis and Care in Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes and Connective Tissue Disorders, was released April 30, 2026 and will expire April 30, 2027.
This course was made possible in part by a grant from The Healthcare Foundation of NJ.
Estimated time to complete: 1.5 hours
After completing this activity, the participant should be better able to:
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Identify unconscious bias in the healthcare system and providers’ perceptions of patients with long and complicated diagnostic journeys.
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Appropriately identify and evaluate connective tissue pain and help formulate an effective pain management plan.
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Evaluate patients with a complicated presentation through a probing, efficient, and empathetic patient encounter in order to develop a strategy to manage patient care responsibly and effectively
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Formulate appropriate mental health support plans or referrals
Joint Accreditation Statement
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by the Postgraduate Institute for Medicine and Pathways To Trust. Postgraduate Institute for Medicine 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.
Credit Designation
The Postgraduate Institute for Medicine designates this enduring material CME activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ . Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1.5 contact hours.
Faculty
Michelle Nichols, Ph.D, RN
Associate Professor
Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes Rehabilitation Research
Director, SCTR Community Engaged Scholars Program
Commissioner, Lancet Neurology Commission on Neurorehabilitation
Past President, Mixed Methods International Research Association
Department of Health Sciences and Research
College of Health Professions
Medical University of South Carolina
Donna Sullivan
Director of Patient Advocacy, CTD
Co-Producer, Complicated
Disclosure of Financial Relationships
Postgraduate Institute for Medicine (PIM) requires faculty, planners, and others in control of educational content to disclose all their financial relationships with ineligible companies. All identified financial relationships are thoroughly vetted and mitigated according to PIM policy. PIM is committed to providing its learners with high quality accredited continuing education activities and related materials that promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of an ineligible company.
The faculty reported the following relevant financial relationships with ineligible entities related to the educational content of this CE activity:
•Jocelyn Mallard has nothing to disclose.
•Ronisha Edwards-Elliot has nothing to disclose.
•The PIM planners and others have nothing to disclose. The Pathways To Trust planners and others have nothing to disclose.
Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the FDA. The planners of this activity do not recommend the use of any agent outside of the labeled indications. The opinions expressed in the educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the planners. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.
Disclaimer
Participants have an implied responsibility to use the newly acquired information to enhance patient outcomes and their own professional development. The information presented in this activity is not meant to serve as a guideline for patient management. Any procedures, medications, or other courses of diagnosis or treatment discussed or suggested in this activity should not be used by clinicians without evaluation of their patient's conditions and possible contraindications and/or dangers in use, review of any applicable manufacturer's product information, and comparison with recommendations of other authorities.
