Our continued work in bronchiectasis has given us an opportunity to educate clinicians using insights we’ve learned from them along the way. Through successive educational initiatives, The France Foundation (TFF) developed a network of pulmonary teaching institutions and expert faculty who understand the challenges clinicians encounter in practice. Through our experience, we can identify where education remains necessary and where changing science creates new needs.

As faculty member Ari Ciment, MD, reflected while discussing TFF's ongoing bronchiectasis education, “The paradigm for bronchiectasis has shifted, but we need to bring forward more education.”

Growing understanding of neutrophilic inflammation and neutrophil serine proteases has expanded the picture of bronchiectasis pathophysiology, while emerging treatment modalities are creating new considerations for disease management. At the same time, longstanding challenges remain: exacerbations can contribute to disease progression, and bronchiectasis may still be overlooked or mistaken for other respiratory diseases when clinicians do not recognize its cardinal symptoms and risk factors. When it comes to continuing education (CE), the challenge is twofold: help clinicians stay current with a changing treatment landscape while continuing to address persistent gaps in diagnosis and management. “Bridging the Bronchiectasis Gap” was designed around those needs.

Sustaining Momentum in Bronchiectasis Education

Previous outcomes give us reason to continue our work. Across prior bronchiectasis education, TFF has documented gains in clinician knowledge and competence. We’ve also noted intentions to make changes in practice from improving recognition and diagnostic evaluation to considering exacerbation characteristics, multidisciplinary care, and emerging evidence when developing treatment strategies. Those results are important, but so is what they represent: an opportunity to learn from each initiative and use those insights to inform the next.

For TFF, “Bridging the Bronchiectasis Gap” represents the next step in a commitment that has been developing for years. By combining established relationships in pulmonary medicine, experienced faculty, interactive educational design, broad audience reach, and outcomes-driven strategy, we are continuing to help clinicians navigate a changing bronchiectasis landscape and demonstrating how sustained expertise can turn individual educational initiatives into a continuum of learning.