News

HELP SHAPE THE ACCME 2023 MEETING THROUGH OUR CALL FOR PROPOSALS

We are pleased to invite you to participate in our Call for Proposals for the in-person-only ACCME 2023 Meeting on May 16-18, 2023, at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. We are soliciting three types of proposal submissions, outlined here. You are welcome to submit multiple proposals. Visit www.accmemeeting.org for details and guidelines for submission.

The deadline for submissions is 11:59 PM CT on Friday, October 28, 2022. 

Earlier this month, we hosted a free, informational webinar about the Call for Proposals to answer questions about submission options and discuss opportunities to lead and collaborate at the ACCME 2023 Meeting. A recording of the webinar is available here.

Questions? We’re happy to help! Email us at education@accme.org.

RETIRING TAB-DELIMITED BATCH UPLOAD TEMPLATES IN DECEMBER 2022

One of our core values at ACCME is to ensure we are listening to and meeting the needs of our accredited providers. As a result of feedback from our community, we promised that the upgraded PARS, launched in November 2021, would support tab-delimited TXT batch upload templates for one year. As a result, the TXT template will be retired as of December 16, 2022.

We recommend uploading your 2022 activities using the Excel template. The Excel batch upload allows for more seamless batch uploads for both activity and learner credit data. For more information and resources, view this webpage.

We've created a series of webinars to help you get started with Excel templates and answer questions you may have. Register below:

• Tuesday, October 25 from 1–2 pm CT
• Wednesday, November 30 from 1–2 pm CT
• Tuesday, December 20 from 1–2 pm CT

As always, we're happy to answer any questions via email at info@accme.org.

ACCME Academy Spotlight

ONBOARD NEW STAFF WITH THE ACCREDITED CE ORIENTATION CURRICULUM

New to accredited education or training a new team member? Consider exploring the curriculum, Accredited CE Orientation: New Staff, which includes more than eight hours of instruction on the history and background of accredited education, the ACCME’s requirements and expectations, and strategies to grow as a CE professional.

Education and Resources

APPLY CASE-BASED LEARNING IN YOUR CE PROGRAMMING

Clinicians learn best when they are presented with scenarios that are relevant to their type of practice and represent realistic problems. Case-based learning (CBL) encourages learners to analyze problems presented in authentic cases, craft inferences based on information provided, and make decisions to simulate real-world professional context. Learn more about ways to apply CBL in your program on page 84 of the CE Educator’s Toolkit, an educational design resource developed by the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) through an ACCME research grant.

Tip: When creating cases, authenticity is best achieved by staying true to a real-world example: include the main character with a problem that needs to be solved, describe the problem, and provide supporting data that will lead learners to ask questions.

UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF REPORTING LEARNER CREDIT DATA IN PARS

ACCME’s Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) offers you the ability to not only enter activity data, but also record learner credit data in the same system. Reporting learner credit data in PARS is optional.

By entering activity and learner credit data in PARS, you can: 

• Increase the visibility of your CME activities and reach a wider audience of learners.
• Reinforce the value of your activities to learners and other stakeholders.
• Decrease physicians' reporting burden, giving them more time to focus on patient care.
• Reduce your workload responding to queries and certificate requests from physicians.
• Support regulatory authorities by providing easier access to verified CME and MOC credit data.

Hear more from ACCME’s President and CEO, Graham McMahon, MD, MMSc, on how centralized data in PARS can help support the delivery of quality patient care.

Explore more resources to support entering learner credit data in PARS here. Questions? We’re happy to help. Email info@accme.org for more information.

VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (VHA) RESOURCE ON TREATING PATIENTS WITH LONG COVID

The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Veterans Health Administration (VHA), a jointly accredited provider, has published a guidebook to equip healthcare professionals with strategies to care for veteran patients with long COVID. The resource features an overview of the signs and symptoms of long COVID and offers recommendations to facilitate a patient-centered approach to caring for veterans with long COVID. More COVID-19 clinician and educator resources are available here.

“In the universe of medical knowledge, information sharing allows us all to get to the most advanced place of diagnosis and treatment as quickly as we can. VHA has leveraged its talent across the country to put together this guide, which is a really excellent product—simple to use, yet comprehensive. And we’d like to share that with any health providers across the country, whether it be in other federal agencies or the private sector to also benefit from the knowledge that we’ve accumulated in the treatment of long COVID.” —Elizabeth Brill, MD, MBA, FACOG, Assistant Under Secretary, Clinical Services, Veterans Health Administration (VHA)

Collaboration and Engagment

NEW CLINICIAN EDUCATOR MILESTONES FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ASSESSMENT  

We are pleased to partner with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), and Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), to share the first-ever Clinician Educator Milestones, designed to support the development and improvement of teaching and learning skills across the continuum of medical education. The Clinician Educator Milestones provide a developmental trajectory of knowledge, skills, and behaviors (performance descriptors) for each defined competency (Administration; Educational Theory and Practice; Well-Being; and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in addition to Universal Pillars, which serve as a foundation for lifelong learners. Learn more about the Milestones here.

"As an attending physician, the motivation to learn and develop skills is often a time-constrained journey without a distinct path. The Clinician Educator Milestones serve as a vital resource to help physicians navigate their lifelong learning and offer key stepping-stones on the ladder of success. I am enthusiastic about using the Milestones in my self-assessment and in the mentorship of my residents and development of my core faculty." –Rebecca Daniel, MD, FACP, Director of Continuing Medical Education, Director of Transitional Year Residency, St. Joseph Mercy Hospital

NOW AVAILABLE: AMERICAN BOARD OF ANESTHESIOLOGY HIGH PRIORITY TOPICS REPORTS

The American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) has released two new High Priority Topics Reports for Q3-4 2021 and Q1-2 2022, which offer insights into planning CME for board-certified anesthesiologists to develop and maintain their knowledge and skillset. Report contents are informed by anesthesiologists’ continuing certification program performance, rather than survey responses. Consider leveraging performance data from the ABA’s High Priority Topics Reports as you plan your next CME activity. 

• Q3-4 2021 Report
• Q1-2 2022 Report

Note: The ABA will be introducing updates to their MOCA content outline for 2023. The changes will affect the topics you can choose when registering your activities for ABA MOCA. More details will be shared as they are made available.

BUILDING AN INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE AT THE COLOGNE CONSENSUS CONFERENCE

ACCME was pleased to co-sponsor the annual Cologne Consensus Conference alongside the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the International Academy of CPD Accreditation, and the European Cardiology Section Foundation on September 7-8. The virtual conference was attended by approximately 70 continuing education professionals from across the world. Together, we explored the future of continuing professional development in a post-pandemic world, addressed healthcare team-based education and wellness, and discussed how working towards common global accreditation standards can improve continuing professional development and continuing medical education for all.

Thank you to all who organized and participated in the 2022 Cologne Consensus Conference! Save the date for next year's Cologne Consensus Conference, taking place on September 13-14, 2023.