Staying current with advances in medicine is a crucial part of delivering the best patient care -- so much so that continuing medical education (CME) is a part of the AMA Code of Medical Ethics. The AMA has certified CME to meet the learning needs of all physicians.
Physicians can learn in many more ways than ever before – live meetings and activities, webcasts and audiocasts, reviewing medical literature and more.
The JAMA Network recently began identifying articles that fulfill state medical licensure requirements for 15 states. In addition, the JAMA Network offers CME to any physician who holds a print or online subscription to any journal in the JAMA Network.
Also, the AMA Store offers CME opportunities for participating in AMA Guides Sixth Training and completing AMA HIPAA School.
Lifelong learning is being incorporated into redesigned curricula for a few of the schools in the AMA’s Accelerating Change in Medical Education initiative, pointing to the importance of instilling it as a value early in physicians’ careers. For example, the New York University School of Medicine is developing an online portfolio with a dashboard that students can use to track their competence development. The foundation for the school’s curriculum will be a virtual patient panel, which students can use after graduation to support a lifelong learning framework into which they can input their own patient data.
Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine is implementing a learner-centered, competency-based curriculum, enabling students to advance through individualized learning plans as they meet certain milestones. The idea is that students will become lifelong learners accustomed to continuous self-assessment and adaptable to changing health care needs.
The AMA recognizes physicians who demonstrate outstanding commitment to lifelong learning and professional development through its Physician’s Recognition Award, given to physicians that earn an average of 50 credits per year from educational activities that meet AMA standards. Recognition demonstrates that recipients are committed to continually expanding their knowledge and skills.
