7th European CME Forum (#7ECF) – London

Everything you need to know about the Seventh Annual European CME Forum is here.

More than 100 participants gathered at the Millennium Gloucester Hotel & Conference Centre in London 13-14 November 2014, to discuss the current status of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for healthcare professionals across Europe and the important role of all the stakeholders involved.

Wednesday 12th November – Friday 14th November 2014

Day 0: Wednesday 12 November

As usual we hosted a number of “Day 0” activities during the afternoon before proceedings got fully underway. These were all invitation-only sessions where specialist groups met to discuss the CME experiences and challenges they face, ahead of #7ECF itself.

We hosted meetings of the following groups:

• Medical societies and professional bodies
• Delegates from industry
• Providers: the Good CME Practice Group had their Autumn Meeting, click here for more information including membership criteria.

Day 1: Thursday 13 November

Meeting opening: Introduction and overview of the objectives of the meeting – Eugene Pozniak (European CME Forum) [Download presentation]

Session 1: What is the need for assessing needs?

Kiki Lombarts, Professor of Professional Performance at the University of Amsterdam ran a practical session to help focus on what is becoming an increasingly important part of the CME programme and bring to life something that should not be a chore. [Download presentation]

Session 2: How will CME be funded?

This session explored how the sources of funding for CME are changing. Times are changing and so are funding models; added to this is American “Sunshine” and European “Transparency” which also play a part in how CME funding is given and received. The starting point was to explore the topics identified in the needs assessment survey, and take things further with everyone in the room.

Jacqui Thornton hosted the discussion with experts from across the education spectrum: Michel Ballieu (CEO at European CanCer Organisation – ECCO), Reinhard Griebenow (President UEMS Cardiology Section, Chair at EBAC), Kate Regnier (Deputy CEO and COO at ACCME) and Eva Thalmann (External Scientific Relations Director at Janssen Cilag).

Session 3: e-learning innovations and potential

Peter Henning, Professor of Education at the Institute for Computers in Education at the University of Karlsruhe, and initiator of LearnTEC, probably the largest e-learning trade show in Europe, reviewed and examined latest technology being used in e-learning both in medicine and further afield. There were two presentations showcasing latest developments;

Simulation in medical education by Carsten Germer (CompuGroup Medical) [Download presentation]
Innovative case based learning from Martin Haag (Heilbronn University of Applied Sciences) [Download presentation]

Session 4: CME on Trial

Jacqui Thornton led this second discussion session of the day, with a fresh multidisciplinary panel, delving this time into a more thorny issue. The order of the day was to examine what precisely is the point of CME accreditation, why healthcare professionals want it or need it and what precisely are the roles of the provider and accreditor.

Panellists: Jennifer Gordon (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada), Caroline Hager (DG SANCO, European Commission), Andre Tichelli (Head of CME Unit, EHA) and Mark Westwood (St Bartholomew’s Hospital)

Day 2: Friday 14 November

Introduction to day 2 – Eugene Pozniak (European CME Forum) [Download presentation]

Session 5: In conversation with…

Leading experts in CME explored the issues of the day in head-to-head conversations.

Robin Stevenson (JECME) in conversation with Don Moore (Vanderbilt University)
Edwin Borman (UEMS-EACCME) in conversation with Eva Thalmann (Janssen Cilag)
Lawrence Sherman (Prova Education) in conversation with Edwin Borman (UEMS-EACCME)

Session 6: The measure of outcomes

Don Moore, Professor of Medical Education and Administration at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, and bringer of what has become known as “Moore’s Pyramid”, or his “7 Levels of Outcomes”, guided the room through practical and implementable ways to plan and assess the effectiveness of educational programmes. [Download presentation]

Lunch with the learners

A selected panel of doctors as learners joined us over lunch to answer questions from the audience, tell us what they think of CME provision and what they would like to see more of, and less of!

Panellists: Debashish Das (Whipps Cross Hospital), Abhishek Joshi (London Chest Hospital) and Dan Sado (King’s College Hospital)

Session 7: CME quality and compliance challenge

Even with practical advice and an interactive workshop, what better way to put lessons into practice than actually pitching for the funding?! For this session we invited delegates to act as providers to pit their wit against a panel of “CME investors” – four experts from across the spectrum – a CME accreditation body, an education expert, an experienced Scientific Director/Chair, and a learner. These “dragons” guided and critiqued the presenters, assessing how well each project met their specific needs and regulations, with help from the audience.

The rules were simple: the programme presented that can successfully bring together a high-quality faculty, interest an audience while addressing their educational needs, be educationally well executed, be attractive to a supporter from industry – AND be compliant under CME accreditation rules, regulatory and legal requirements – will win!

Fulfilling the role of “dragons” will be: Reinhard Griebenow (Accreditor), Jonas Nordquist (Educator), Dan Sado (Learner) and Mark Westwood (Course Director)

Session 8: CME Unsession

Lawrence Sherman hosted the final discussion session to ensure that no-one either in the room, or the followers in the Twittersphere, left the meeting with any questions left ringing in their heads.

A number of participants were interviewed by eCancer which can be viewed here (link goes to eCancer.org)