Podcast Episode: Continuing Education for the Medical Professional

Mike and John go over common problems with CME, online resources, and share some conference experience. What is the average CME reimbursement? Is it better to do on-demand or live content?
If you are a healthcare professional with a CME (Continuing Medical Education) requirement, I am sure you’ve experienced the panic of trying to find a good CME before the end of the year. Every year in December I see frantic posts on professional social media groups asking for help finding CME. Many professional licenses require annual CME and finding good CME can be a significant stressor. John and I both share a passion for CME. We both value education, but also see CME conferences and events as incredible opportunities to network, learn from peers, and further hone our career goals.
Nearly every employer in healthcare will see CME as a benefit and encourage participation. Research shows that most providers receive CME reimbursement through their employer. And yet, not every healthcare professional shares the same prioritization of CME. If someone is posting on December 28th that they need 30 hours of CME by the end of the year, that seems to signal that they are looking to check the license requirement box and nothing more. Yes, CME requirements can be burdensome and sometimes CME courses can be dry and devoid of new information, but don’t give up. If you don’t think CME is valuable, I would posit that you simply have not found the right CME offerings.
In episode 3 of White Coats of the Round Table, John and I discuss the importance of CME while also offering many resources on how to find the best CME. Did you know that you can find high quality CME online for free? Even if your specific profession does not require annual CME, healthcare is a field of constant evolution. Spending time keeping up to date on the latest developments in your profession can help you as a clinician, but also professionally. Recently, I went to a CME lecture on advances in digital therapeutics and learned of a program that integrates with my EMR to provide patient questionnaires and surveys directly on the patients phone. This innovation has improved our patients’ experience, but also reduced provider documentation time as the questionnaires auto-populate into the patient’s chart. These are the types of educational opportunities that may be missed if healthcare professionals are simply “checking the CME box” on December 31st.
I hope you enjoy episode 3 of White Coats of the Roundtable.
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