How to talk to your patients about PFAS and their health (CME)

Lessons from an experienced doctor on addressing PFAS in the clinic

Available for 1.5 CME credits of AMA PRA Category 1^TM

In this breakout workshop from the 2026 National PFAS Conference in Tucson, Arizona, Rachel Criswell, MD, a family physician based in Maine, demonstrates how to conduct a PFAS exposure history and incorporate PFAS into routine primary care. Dr. Criswell provides a practical template for documenting, testing, and counseling patients on PFAS exposures and risk mitigation.

The workshop features several case studies and a simulated clinical encounter with a patient (portrayed  by community advocate  Andrea Amico). The session builds clinical competencies while demonstrating the feasibility of incorporating environmental risk factors into everyday primary care practice:

“As a primary care doctor, I screen patients at every physical to determine whether they should be tested for PFAS. It’s a risk factor for disease. I screen people for smoking, alcohol use, and genetics, so why not add PFAS? It’s an easy question to ask, and an easy thing to screen for.”

Learning objectives:

1. Provide health care providers with a model for discussing PFAS exposures and health risks with patients.
2. Offer practical strategies for documenting PFAS exposure history, ordering and interpreting blood tests, counseling patients on exposure reduction, and practicing medical monitoring.

The recording of the workshop is available for CME credit for free.

How to receive free CME credit

• Go to the Michigan State University CME page
• Log in or create a free account
• Answer the pre-course questions
• Watch the video
• Answer the post-course questions

Please note: the video player on MSU disables rewinding or fast forwarding. If you want to go back and revisit certain sections, you can re-watch the video on YouTube.

Help us improve clinician education

In 2026, researchers from our PFAS-REACH team launched a new research project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project aims to improve and disseminate educational resources for doctors and nurses about PFAS health effects, blood testing, and medical monitoring.

For this project, we are hosting focus groups and interviews with healthcare providers and other practitioners, as well as students in medicine, nursing, and public health. We want to hear your perspectives and experiences in addressing PFAS in clinical settings. To participate in an interview or focus group, you can sign up after completing the CME course or email us directly at PFAS-REACH@silentspring.org.

In addition, PFAS-REACH is offering Grand Rounds presentations about PFAS for hospitals and other institutions. To inquire about scheduling a presentation with our research team, contact PFAS-REACH@silentspring.org.

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Stay connected

Join a listserv to receive updates about PFAS in clinical practice by sending an email to listserv@list.msu.edu. In the body of the email, put “subscribe pfasinpatientcare your name,” replacing ‘your name’ with your actual name and credentials. For example, “subscribe pfasinpatientcare Alice Hamilton, MD, MPH.”