Purpose

Target Audience

CME activities are primarily designed and presented to serve the professional and educational needs of physicians who are credentialed to practice medicine at Saint Mary’s Hospital. Although the content and strategy of the CME is determined by the needs and interests of these physicians, other interested professionals may also attend CME sessions.

Content

Saint Mary’s CME will provide educational activities that meet the criteria for Category 1 as designated by the AMA Physicians Recognition Award. It will also follow the Essential Areas, Standards and Policies of the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education and other standards established by the Connecticut State Medical Society Committee on Continuing Medical Education. The content of CME includes but is not limited to instruction in the basic sciences, advances in clinical medicine and research, public health, medical ethics, law, economics and other relevant topics. The content is based on the identification and analysis of the targeted audience’s continuing medical education needs as articulated by participants, department chairs, Director of Medical Education and/or quality improvement initiatives. Objectives for each session are clearly stated and the effectiveness of each program subsequently evaluated. Speakers include highly qualified physicians and other prominent leaders from academic medicine, industry, government and hospital administration. It is expected that the content presented will be objective, ethical and balanced.CME sessions that receive commercial support are so acknowledged in all announcements and at the beginning of the CME program.

Types of Activities

Saint Mary’s Hospital CME Program will sponsor, co-sponsor or jointly sponsor CME activities utilizing current technologies and methodologies appropriate for adult learners in a variety of formats including but not limited to on-going weekly and monthly activities such as Grand Rounds, Tumor Conferences, and free-standing one-time programs such as lectures, conferences, seminars, symposium, etc. The Health Sciences Library further supports self-directed learning by providing an extensive collection of current and relevant print materials and electronic resources readily available at the learner’s desktop.

Results

As a result of participating in CME activities, it is expected that a significant number of participants will report that learning objectives have been met and/or that the learner intends to make a change in practice. In addition to individual post-activity evaluations, a comprehensive evaluation of the CME program as a whole will be conducted on a periodic basis. These evaluations guide on-going improvements in the CME program and subsequent activities.