Continuing Medical Education
Activities for Doctors to Maintain and Update Clinical Knowledge
Physicians in practice may be licensed and board certified, but learning never stops. What exactly does this involve?
One may think that a physician is done with training after residency. In reality, medicine is a career that demands lifelong learning. Advances in medicine are so frequent and numerous that staying up to date is vital. Requirements for continuing medical education (CME) ensure that no physician falls behind in clinical knowledge.
Maintenance of Licensure and Board Certification
Many CME activities are available for physicians to learn independently. They include online courses with quizzes, print material and multimedia with quizzes, workshops, seminars, lectures, and conferences. In addition, publishing research and achieving board certification or recertification are recognized CME activities. These are not just any kind of activities. All CME options must be approved by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) for granting educational credit.
In general, one CME credit equals one hour spent in the activity. Therefore, the approximate time required to complete the activity determines how many CME credits are granted. For example, a short online article with a quiz may grant one half of a CME credit while a conference lasting several hours a day may grant five CME credits. These activities always disclose how much credit they offer and usually refer to these credits as AMA PRA Category 1 credits, recognized by the American Medical Association for both credit and eligibility for the AMA Physician's Recognition Award. Category 1 means the activity is ultimately related to patient care as opposed to Category 2 credits from other activities, such as teaching medical students and residents.
Most of the medical boards in the United States have their own minimum CME requirement for maintaining medical licensure. For example, the state of Illinois requires a minimum of 150 CME credits in every three-year period. Physicians completing a CME activity are asked to fill out a survey or sign an attendance record as documentation of completion, and the activity coordinator forwards the information to the ACCME-approved state medical society for the physician's state of licensure. Even so, physicians should keep copies of CME completion certificates and other valid documentation in case they get audited.
As for board certification in a specialty, maintaining it requires the completion of a renewal exam every couple of years.
Resources for Optimal Clinical Performance
Keeping up with the latest medical developments is not just for satisfying CME requirements. It is necessary for physicians in practice to do the best job possible. Many resources are available if clinical review is necessary, including relevant textbooks and a popular online medical reference called UpToDate. For new developments in clinical practice, physicians subscribe to a variety of journals, including the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Medical Association along with specialty journals.
There is so much reading to do that it is not unusual for physicians to do so even at home. This is especially true when patients present with conditions and require treatments that physicians need to refresh themselves on. It is this level of expectation that makes medicine one of the most challenging careers in existence.
References
- American Medical Association (AMA) - Physician's Recognition Award and Credit System
- American Medical Association (AMA) - State Medical/Osteopathic Board Regulations on CME for Licensure Reregistration
