MANY OF US see attendee surveys as an item to check on the “to do” list to keep the Accreditation Council for CME happy, and thus maintain our accreditation status. What we may not realize is that attendee surveys are potentially a powerful source...

THE ISSUANCE OF the new Standards for Commercial Support in September 2004 and subsequent official, unofficial, and company-specific interpretations have produced yet another round of concern and finger-pointing among those involved in CME...

To comply with the Accreditation Council for CME's new Standards for Commercial Support, many CME providers must update their procedures for collaborating with funders, identifying and resolving faculty conflicts of interest, and ensuring that CME...

IN CASE YOU haven't noticed, the skills required for today's CME professionals are changing. The Accreditation Council for CME's Essential Areas, the updated Standards for Commercial Support, and the Office of Inspector General advisory suggest a...

THE 2004 SOCIETY for Academic CME Fall Meeting, November 5 to 7 in Boston, may have been relatively small, but it was powerful. One hundred fifteen participants gathered at the Hynes Convention Center to learn the latest on the Accreditation...

The Atlanta-based Healthcare Convention and Exhibitors Association this past fall officially came out against healthcare exhibition policies that require exhibitors to pay “sponsorship” fees for activities in their own booths, beyond the cost of...

CME providers need to do more to increase the quality of their education and credibility with the government and the public, says a white paper issued by the Medical Education Collaborative in Golden, Colo. Drawing from interviews and discussions...

WHILE ORGANIZING THE 17th World Conference of Family Doctors, known as Wonca 2004, which took place in Orlando this past October, Sondra Biggs, CMP, director, convention management division, American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, Kan....

A SOMEWHAT DISTURBING trend appeared in this year's physician survey, which was conducted in September and October of 2004: The younger docs — those under 45 — were less likely to have participated in CME in 2004 than those in the higher age...

IN THE AFTERMATH of the December 26 tsunamis in South Asia, I read an article on Israel121c.org about how Israeli doctors, who were among the first on the scene in Sri Lanka, have the ideal training for dealing with a disaster of such proportions...