News

EXPLORE THE NEW MATE ACT WEBPAGE

The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) recently released materials related to the new Medication Access and Training Expansion (MATE) Act. The Act requires new or renewing DEA licensees, as of June 27, 2023, to have completed a total of at least eight hours of training on opioid or other substance use disorders and the appropriate treatment of pain.

ACCME compiled a number of frequently asked questions to address potential inquiries related to the MATE Act and accredited continuing education (CE), available here.

GRANT PROGRAM: BUILDING TRUSTWORTHINESS BY ADDRESSING UNCERTAINTY IN MEDICINE 

Funding is available for programs that promote English language educational approaches to guide physicians’ acceptance of uncertainty as a routine part of clinical practice and help them communicate uncertainty to their patients, physician colleagues, and interprofessional team members. Submit your proposals by June 16, 2023. Learn more and apply.

LIVE WEBINAR ON INEQUITY IN HEALTH CARE ON MAY 9 

Join the second National Health Equity Grand Rounds event, Follow the Money! Understanding the Structural Incentives for Inequity in Health Care and Beyond, on Tuesday, May 9 from 2:00-3:30 pm ET. Expert speakers will challenge our audience to participate in reimagining a health care system that centers community and healing over profiteering. Health care professionals may receive no-cost continuing medical education (CME) credit by attending.

The National Health Equity Grand Rounds series is developed by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, American Medical Association, National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education, and RespectAbility. 

ACCME Academy Spotlight 

NEW COURSE AVAILABLE: ACCESSIBILITY IN CONTINUING EDUCATION

A new addition to the Education for Equity and Access Curriculum in ACCME Academy, “Accessibility in Continuing Education,” is now available!  The new course provides continuing education (CE) professionals with an overview of best practices to promote accessibility for CE learners, including actionable tips and checklists for CE planning. 

Participants will learn how to:

• Communicate the need for accessibility in continuing education (CE) for health professionals.
• List and explain the Perceivable, Operable, Understandable, and Robust (POUR) principles relate them to the creation of online learning.
• Recognize and implement the POUR principles in planning online CE.Apply the POUR principles and other accessibility accommodations to in-person learning.

Access to the course is free for accredited CME providers with an ACCME Academy user account. Simply click this link and log in to your ACCME Academy account.

Education & Resources

NOW AVAILABLE: REQUEST FOR APPLICATION FOR REMS-COMPLIANT ACCREDITED CONTINUING EDUCATION

The Mycophenolate Applicants (Mycophenolate REMS Group, MRG) Continuing Education (CE) Subteam's 2023 CE Request for Application (RFA) for REMS-compliant accredited CE is now available.

The 2023 CE Grant Cycle is open to all CE Providers interested in receiving funding for REMS-compliant accredited CE programs. REMS-compliant educational CE activities must cover all portions of the FDA’s Mycophenolate REMS Education Blueprint for Healthcare Providers who Prescribe.

As outlined in the 2023 CE RFA, grant applications must be submitted via the Grant Management System (GMS) by June 9, 2023 at 11:59 pm ET.

ACCREDITATION MYTH OF THE MONTH 

To support your successful implementation of the Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, we’re debunking common myths around accreditation and sharing ways to efficiently plan your CE activities.

Myth: An accredited provider is required to publish learning objectives with at least one objective for each topic within an activity and must provide documentation of the published objectives to the ACCME.

Reality: While learners should be able to discern the purpose of an educational activity to ensure it will meet their needs, there is no accreditation criterion that requires learning objectives, let alone requires a specific number of them or that they be published or reported to the ACCME. 

“When inviting speakers, we provide them with clinical questions we’d like them to address rather than requiring them to provide their own learning objectives.” –Elizabeth Nettleton, CHCP

“Ask yourself, are there existing steps that are slowing down your faculty?  Consider drafting objectives, a session description, and any other information needed, and sharing with your planning committee and/or faculty for their input. If you can get them 80% of the way there, you might be in a better position to receive activity details from them in accordance with your timeline.” –Mindi Daiga, MBA, CHCP

Looking for more information? Explore our standards resources webpage, frequently asked questions, and tips for simplifying CE planning.

CALL FOR PAPERS IN A SPECIAL COLLECTION OF THE JOURNAL OF CME 
 
The Journal of Continuing Medical Education (CME), previously the Journal of European CME, is launching their 2023 Special Collection to highlight diverse voices in CME/CPD and demonstrate how these voices add value and impact engagement across the professions and different stakeholder groups around the world. Manuscripts must be submitted by July 31, 2023, and the Special Collection will be published in late 2023.

Careers 

The ACCME has two open positions:

• Marketing Communications Manager: The Marketing Communications Manager is responsible for developing and executing marketing/communications plans to ensure the successful growth of ACCME’s digital Continuing Medical Education (CME) data hub, to promote the value of accredited continuing education for health professionals, to grow the community of accredited providers, and to build engagement with the accredited continuing education community, clinicians, healthcare leaders, and other stakeholders.
• Full stack .Net Developer (React, Azure DevOps, SQL Server): This role will work closely with the Data Services team to design, develop and implement features for ACCME’s critical, custom applications: the Program and Activity Reporting System (PARS) and CME Passport.