Six of the primary organizations serving professionals in the continuing education in the healthcare field have agreed to work together to strengthen the core competencies, measure improvement, and make it easier for continuing healthcare educators to further their careers.
The National Commission for Certification of Continuing Medical Education Professionals got the ball rolling when it invited the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education, the Association for Hospital Medical Education, the Global Alliance for Medical Education, and the Association of American Medical Colleges to discuss how they can collaborate to benefit the organizations at the table, healthcare educators, and ultimately the organizations they work for.
According to Scott Hershman, MD, CCMEP, president of NC-CME, “Three key collaborations were initiated, including: 1) development and definition of core skill sets and competencies for CE professionals; 2) a research grant proposal to develop an education curriculum, competency verification, and measurement of improvement in quality metrics for identified healthcare organizations and 3) a pathway for membership, education, and certification with discounts at each step across all of the organizations. This is a great starting point and it is our hope that, as this moves forward, other organizations with a common interest will join and help to expand the effort.”
As a first step, the organizations decided to develop and define the core skills sets and competencies professionals working in the field of continuing education in the health professions need to be effective. Building on the work started by NC-CME, which already offers the Certified CME Professional designation, they also began to develop a research grant proposal to underwrite efforts to find out how a credential or certification could result in improved patient care, which in turn would have benefits for the organizations who employ certified CE professionals.
“Work already has begun developing the core skill sets and competencies,” Hershman said in a press release, “and the research grant proposal has been initiated. All of the organizations agreed to continue their discussions to further develop the collaborations and further the work they initiated.”
