NEW CME ACTIVITY | Going Beyond “Grade C”: An Updated Rubric for Prostate Cancer Screening in the Primary Care Setting
October 5, 2026
A new, free CME course developed through the Harvard Cancer Consortium's Prostate Cancer Working Group provides primary care providers with guidance for navigating the evolving prostate cancer screening landscape.
The HCC Prostate Cancer Working Group brings together HCC researchers and community partners to identify strategies to address the prostate cancer burden in Massachusetts. Organized by the HCC Community Outreach & Engagement program, the working group focused on strategies to improve prostate cancer screening. As an initial activity, the group provided clinical review of updated prostate cancer screening campaign materials developed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), including updating MDPH’s decision aid and fact sheet to clarify post-PSA testing pathways. These discussions highlighted significant variation and gaps in provider knowledge related to PSA testing recommendations. In response, the group partnered with MDPH to support the development of a prostate cancer screening course for primary care providers through the Massachusetts Medical Society.
“Going Beyond “Grade C”: An Updated Rubric for Prostate Cancer Screening in the Primary Care Setting” course examines how prostate cancer screening has evolved in the era of prostate MRI and active surveillance. The course discusses emerging approaches that help distinguish clinically significant prostate cancer from benign conditions that commonly affect aging men, while highlighting strategies to reduce unnecessary interventions without compromising patient outcomes. The course will be available on the Massachusetts Medical Society website for CME credit for the next three years.
Clinicians and community partners, as well as several primary care providers from Federally Qualified Health Centers in Massachusetts, provided critical feedback on the course to ensure it was relevant and useful.
Dr. Heidi Rayala, Urologic Surgeon at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Dr. David Einstein, Disease Group Leader in Genitourinary Medical Oncology Program at Beth Israel Deaconess medical Center/Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, led the development and served as faculty.
The Massachusetts Medical Society designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™.
If you are doing collaborative work in the community and are interested in connecting with Community Outreach and Engagement team on any activities, please email Jenny Reiner (Jennifer_Reiner@dfci.harvard.edu).