| By :
Adrianna Noton
Continuing medical education (CME) enables active health care professionals to update their knowledge and skills to reflect the latest developments in their field of expertise. Continuing education sessions also allow professionals to benefit from interaction with peers. For all these reasons, continuing education is a vital part of the life of a modern, active professional. CME courses are designed for primary care physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, health administrators and other medical professionals. The sessions are intensive, focused and organized either as participatory seminars or formal instructional courses. The sessions are typically short term, extending over a few days. Sessions are usually scheduled during the morning ending at lunchtime, leaving the afternoon as free time to pursue private study or other activities. Sessions cover both medical topics and business topics. Medical instruction is offered across a wide range of subject areas including specialist areas such as Dermatology, Neurology, Hematology, New Drug Updates and so on. Less technical medical topics such as Issues in Women's Health are also offered. Business topics include Techniques for Improved Debtor Collections; Strategic Marketing of Medical Services and Improved General Management for Health Administrators. The business topic sessions are equally well-attended as the medical sessions. Attendee numbers at each session are deliberately kept low to assist participation and ensure personalized training. Most sessions are led by tenured doctors who intimately understand the specific needs of primary care clinicians. They are also well-known experts in their field of practice. Many are also attached to influential medical or academic institutions including Albert Einstein, Mayo Clinic, Baylor, Mount Sinai, Cleveland Clinic, NYU, Harvard, Stanford, Johns Hopkins and Yale. There are several advantages to attending CME sessions. Course attendees are able to combine their continuing medical education with their vacation. They can usually take advantage of group discounts on hotel costs and other travel expenses; these discounts sometimes extend to family, colleagues and friends. Courses are typically scheduled for the mornings, allowing attendees the rest of the day to pursue private study or personal activities. Additionally, courses are generally conducted at top rated resort-type facilities allowing attendees to enjoy learning in a pleasant, stress-free environment away from the office. Attendees can also enjoy interacting with peers from all over the world. Finally, many of the costs incurred in attending continuing education tax-deductible training expenses. CME programs provide an efficient way for professionals to update their knowledge and skills, discuss real world specific case examples as well as to meet, interact and forge new relationships with peers. Professional bodies such as the American Medical Association are keen to ensure that these sessions are free of information bias. This objective reflects a checkered experience with CME courses extending several decades starting from the 1950s when the pharmaceutical industry played a leading role in funding continuing education sessions for doctors. That experience encouraged the formation of guidance or accreditation bodies such as the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education whose activities span both the USA and Canada. The members of SACME members are leading educators focused on promoting continuing medical education to improve patient care.
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