In This Issue

• CME Now!
• Spring 2011 Conference Highlights
• Regularly Scheduled Series Application Window
• News: The Alliance for CME's Grand Opening
• The Scoop on CME: Plans into Action; Part II

CME Now!

As you can see from the listings in this month's newsletter, this is a very busy season for CME activities. The range of educational activities is quite broad, and attendees have been quite pleased with their learning experiences. Our thanks to the many faculty members at URMC and in the community who have led and contributed to these successes.

The past few months, our Office also has been rather busy preparing the self-study report for our reaccreditation site visit by the ACCME. As most readers well know from what we require of you for CME activities, the ACCME regulations are very specific and detailed. Our self-study fills a two-inch binder with descriptions and examples to demonstrate that we are are in full compliance with their expectations. At the same time, the report gives us a chance to reflect more broadly on our CME programming and its learner outcomes. Reviewing such information has given us great confidence that we are indeed meeting our overall Office Mission: to provide high quality educational activities fostering the professional development of practicing physicians and other health care professionals. We are grateful to the many faculty and staff members across the institution and the region for making this so, and as always, we welcome your feedback to better meet your needs in the future. We'd also like to take a moment to express our appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our Office Staff, led in these efforts by Melissa Newcomb, MBA, CCMEP, in preparing the self-study. Our ACCME site visit will take place early this summer, and we will learn of their decision regarding reaccreditation by December. We will keep you all posted!

With best wishes as spring finally, hopefully arrives,

Jeffrey M. Lyness, MD
Medical Director for Continuing Medical Education (CME)
585-275-4392
Jeffrey_Lyness@urmc.rochester.edu

Patrick H. Murphy
Director, Continuing Professional Education
585-275-4392
PatrickH_Murphy@urmc.rochester.edu

Spring Highlights:

Dr. Lawrence Tabak, Principal Deputy Director of the National Institute of Health will be providing one of two keynote addresses at the April 15 Clinical and Translational Science Institute conference: Applying Science to Benefit Health Care Reform that will take place at the University of Rochester School of Nursing and the new Saunders Research Building. Dr. Tabak's talk, "Innovation in Translational and Therapeutic Medicine" will take place in the morning. Dr. Brian Mittman, Director of the Veterans Administration Center for Implementation Practice and Research Support Department of Veterans Affairs at the Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System is presenting the second keynote presentation,"Achieving the Promise of Medical Research: Applying Implementation Science to Improve Health and Health Care."

Activity Co-Directors, Dr. Randy Rosier and Dr. Richard Moxley anticipate an exciting day of progressive education that can be applied to a broad range of clinical areas and specialties.

The annual spring cardiology conference has been redesigned and expanded by Dr. Ron Schwartz as the Cardiology Spring 2011 Update: Advancing the Paradigm in Clinical Management. A variety of educational formats will feature International experts from our own university community as they discuss topics such as the cost effective use of implantable defibrillators, the appropriate use of ACE inhibitor and ARB medications in patients with renal failure, and the safety and efficacy of pharmacologic nuclear stress testing with SPECT and PET MPS. Be sure to register for this highly esteemed conference scheduled for April 30 at the URMC. Click here for more information and to register for the Cardiology Spring Update 2011.

Congratulations to Activity Director, John Markman, MD for another exciting Pain Management conference! This conference featured the latest in diagnostic, treatment, and prevention strategies for common chronic pain, neuropathic pain and acute pain provided by highly regarded experts in the field. Melanie Thernstrom, New York Times bestselling author of The Pain Chronicles, spoke at the April 9, 2011 activity.

Regularly Scheduled Series

Application Window

Please submit applications for RSS with October-December 2011 start dates no later than July 1, 2011. Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS) Applications for July - September 2011 are no longer being accepted (unless you have a previously approved extension from the CPE Office).If you have any questions about your current series, or beginning as series, please contact Jessica (Jones) Wright at Jessica_Wright@urmc.rochester.edu.

News

The Alliance for CME's Grand Opening
by: Sue Pelletier

When leaders at the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education announced at the organization's annual conference in January that it would be expanding its focus beyond certified CME to include healthcare-related continuing education and professional development, participants dropped their iPhones and riveted their attention to the dais.

Click here to view this content.

All opinions expressed in this article do not reflect the opinions of the UR Office of Continuing Professional Education.

The Scoop on CME

Plans into Action; Part II
by: Melissa Newcomb, MBA, CCMEP, Assistant Director for Certification, UR CPE

The implementation of a CME activity can be complex with many processes happening simultaneously. In the last CME-Update Special Spring Edition, we began to pare this process down into manageable bites, first starting with credit application. This month, we move the discussion to other critical considerations: audience, location, and date.

Who/What/Where/When: Clearly outlining a target audience(s) and the educational "take away" from your activity are key components to logistical planning that leads to date, location and speaker selection. Do you plan to attract participants from the local area, regionally, state-wide, nationally and/or internationally? If participants will be traveling a great distance it is important to consider ease of accessibility from an international airport or highway. Will the attendees have a need for overnight accommodations? If so, is there a nearby hotel that will hold blocks of rooms for your event?

Location! Location! Location! Regardless of the scope of the meeting, it is important to look at the size of the venue in relation to the potential size of the audience. Consider the learning formats that you have chosen and think of the most ideal setting in which these formats could take place. For instance, is there an auditorium or ballroom area large enough to accommodate a big group didactic lecture? Or - are there enough smaller meeting rooms to hold all the breakout or workshop sessions? Does the venue offer quality catering services or will you need to contract with a local catering company?

When: You have the perfect venue but is it available when you would most like to hold your meeting? Many factors can influence the choice of dates for your conference. One positive push towards attracting your audience would be to schedule your meeting to coincide with a national initiative highlighting the topic area. For example, May is National Stroke Awareness month. At the same time, you need to be aware of other local or national meetings geared toward an audience similar to your target audience and focused on comparable or even the same content as your activity. The time of year is also an important consideration especially considering the weather conditions in the chosen location. Holidays and school vacations will also influence your target audience's ability to attend, you will want to be mindful of all of these considerations when scheduling.

While the conference date is generally set prior to inviting speakers, if a specific speaker's participation is felt to be critical to the success of a meeting, such as the director of your content area's national association, be sure to add their availability to the list of considerations.

Once the date and venue has been finalized, it is essential to give the selected speakers as much notice as possible. All invited speakers will most likely need to clear their clinical or teaching schedules and make time to develop their presentations. Extra thoughtfulness must be given to speakers who will need time to schedule travel arrangements. Even with advanced notice, it is important for the planning committee to create a list of alternative speakers to refer to if someone is unavailable.