Speakers

• Frank Berry, BS, CHCP, President, Pathfinder HCEA;
• Ruth Zarzycki, Manager, CME Accreditation Program Medical Society of New Jersey
• Leslie Howell, CHCP, CAE, Director of CME, Training, and Physician Leadership Programs, Pennsylvania Medical Society

This session will focus on:

• The CME Landscape
• The Standards for Independence and Integrity
• The Mission
• Educational Planning
• Evaluation and Analysis

Speaker: Brian McGowan, PhD, Co-Founder & Chief Learning Officer, ArcheMedx 
“That which can be measured can be improved” - is one of the most famous and important tenets of performance improvement and it is no less true in medical education. Absent well-designed measurement, we can never adequately or accurately know where we stand, what is working, or what are our real (vs perceived) barriers to ensure our learners are learning. 

The good news is that we can draw on nearly 60+ years of actionable research and best practices in measurement. These lessons allow us to choose measurement methods that are viable in different settings, with different resources; and to choose measurements that effectively measure what we intended to change.

Whether you simply need to measure impact, or whether you intend to conduct field-advancing research; we shouldn't be intimidated by the science of outcome measurement; and this workshop will empower you to measure more confidently!

This workshop will explore 5 essential themes in outcomes measurement:

• Frameworks: What are the most prevalent outcomes frameworks? Why are they important?
• Today’s Methods: What are the most frequently used and most accurate methods to measure change in CE/CME?
• Tomorrow’s Methods: What are the emerging best practices? How might we embrace them? 
• Time & Change: What are the pros/cons of measuring once (summative) vs repeating measures over time (formative) outcomes?
• Standardization: How do we guarantee that we are comparing apples to apples? 

Speaker: Dion Richetti, Vice President of Accreditation and Recognition, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education

Moderator: Dion Richetti, Vice President of Accreditation and Recognition, Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education

Panelists:

• Ari Hernandez, Manager CME, Accreditation, Pennsylvania Medical Society
• Chanise Reese-Queen, EdD, MSA, Executive Director, Professional Development and Education, Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development, University of Maryland School of Medicine
• Tricia Wilson, MS, CHCP, Educational Activity Program Manager, Optum Health Education

Speaker: Annette Donawa, Associate Provost, Continuing Professional Development, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University)

Should Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies be implemented in CME/CPD? Why is DEI important? What role could/should I play in implementing DEI strategies? This session will address these questions and other topics related to implementing DEI strategies in your departments. In addition to addressing DEI on a broader level, participants will learn how Thomas Jefferson University implements DEI strategies in its CPD department. Recent research results on integrating health equity questions in RSS CE applications will be shared. Participants will engage in brainstorming sessions as to how to advance DEI strategies in their departments. Resources and tools will be provided.

Breakout 1 – Practice What You Preach: Evaluating Common Areas of Non-Compliance in CMW Accreditation (repeats)
Speakers:

• Ruth Zarzycki, Manager, CME Accreditation Program Medical Society of New Jersey
• Leslie Howell, CHCP, CAE, Director of CME, Training, and Physician Leadership Programs, Pennsylvania Medical Society

Breakout 2 – Talking About Activities: Enhancing Outcomes Reporting through Qualitative Approaches (repeats)
Speaker: James D. Morgante, PhD, Associate Director, Qualitative and Survey Research Methods, American Society of Clinical Oncology

The educational effectiveness of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities is routinely measured with tests and questionnaires.  Tests allow for the measure of within-activity learning.  When test items are comparable and the same learners complete both the pre- and post-test, learners’ developing expertise (i.e., post-test) can be compared to their pre-existing knowledge (i.e., pre-test).  Questionnaires aim to understand learners self-perceived intent-to-change.  Presented items ask learners to assess the likelihood of incorporating activity learnings into their practice and describe what they intend to do differently.  Together, tests and questionnaires are informative measures of educational effectiveness, but these quantitative approaches may provide an incomplete analysis of an activity.  Focus groups and interviews, qualitative approaches, can add an additional level of understanding of learners’ activity participation and engagement.  No outcomes measure or approach is robust on its own.  A mixed-methods outcomes design, in which quantitative and qualitative approaches are combined, is ideal for measuring and reporting educational effectiveness. 

This session will provide an overview of the six major methods of outcomes data collection and value of mixed methods approaches for measuring and reporting the educational effectiveness of CPD activities.  Focus groups, one of the major methods, can be especially useful for obtaining in-depth information on how learners have incorporated their understanding into practice after having completed an activity.  The procedures and best practices for the design, development, moderation, and analysis of focus groups, a qualitative approach, will be discussed as a means for adding an additional level of understanding to tests and questionnaires, quantitative approaches. Regarding design, protocols for conducting both in-person and virtual focus groups, via video conferencing platforms, will be discussed. Upon conclusion of this session, participants will be able to describe the processes for developing a focus group protocol and identify opportunities for incorporating focus group insights into CPD activity outcomes reporting.

Breakout 3 – Commendation… Just Do It!
Speakers:

• Elizabeth Nettleton, CHCP, CME Program Manager, American College of Physicians
• Noreen Duffey, CHCP, CME Program Administrator, American College of Physicians

This session will describe four Commendation Criteria and examples of how to meet the criteria.

Breakout 1 – Practice What You Preach: Evaluating Common Areas of Non-Compliance in CME Accreditation 
Speakers:

• Ruth Zarzycki, Manager, CME Accreditation Program Medical Society of New Jersey
• Leslie Howell, CHCP, CAE, Director of CME, Training, and Physician Leadership Programs, Pennsylvania Medical Society

Breakout 2 – Talking About Activities: Enhancing Outcomes Reporting through Qualitative Approaches 
Speaker: James D. Morgante, PhD, Associate Director, Qualitative and Survey Research Methods, American Society of Clinical Oncology

Breakout 3 – Different Perspectives on how to Manage RSS Post-Pandemic and Remaining Compliant 
Speakers: Annette Donawa, Associate Provost, Continuing Professional Development, Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University)

This session will discuss how to manage and engage departmental RSS coordinators with constant turnover and describe different perspectives maintaining compliance/CE. 

Continuing Education Staff Challenges and How to Overcome Them
Speaker: Courtney Hugo, MEd, MS, Manager, Continuing Education, Geisinger Health System; Andrea Whitman, AS, Program Manager of Continuing Education and Katie Klinger, MEd, Education Specialist in Continuing Education

This session will focus on the modernization of our CE office technology and processes under new management (former manager retired after 46 years) while being short staffed and going through reaccreditation/pursuing commendation. It will detail how we survived this year and came out the other side a stronger team! 

Working in Joint Providership Across Multiple Accreditation Types
Speaker: Whitney Faler, MPA, CHCP, Director of Accreditation and Outcomes, Postgraduate Institute for Medicine

This session will discuss the nuisances of joint providership and the extra care that has to be put into activities vs. directly produced.

Chat-GPT: Ally or Adversary - Exploring the Pros and Cons
Speaker: Ruwaida Vakil, MSc, ProMed Write, LLC

This session will discuss how to utilize ChatGPT optimally. We will discuss the growing importance of AI-powered Chatbots, their risks, how to ensure ethical usage, and how to generate the best prompts.