About the Office
Mission Statement and Program Components of the Office of Continuing Medical Education (OCME)
As set forth in the core mission statement of Wake Forest School of Medicine (WFSM), the Office of Continuing Medical Education (OCME) is committed to providing superior, ethical, timely continuing medical education (CME) to health care professionals, specifically physicians, thereby supporting them in constant self-evaluative improvement and lifelong learning of biomedical knowledge and better enabling them to provide optimal, safe patient care leading to the improved health and well-being of the general public.
The OCME uses the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates’ definition of CME – “educational activities that serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. The content of CME is the body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the profession as within the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public.”
All content promotes improvements in patient care and not a specific proprietary business or commercial interest. Recommendations involving clinical medicine are based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients. In addition, all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in support or justification of a patient care recommendation conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.
Using adult learning principles, the OCME assists WFSM faculty, staff, and affiliated individuals, groups, and organizations in planning, developing, providing, and evaluating CME on medical and health care topics based on professional practice gaps, educational needs, and/or interests. These gaps, needs, and interests are identified by multiple sources, including, but not limited to: past CME activity evaluation data; faculty, staff, and outside practitioner recommendations based upon experiences in the clinical setting; committee findings; literature reviews and Internet searches; Wake Forest Baptist Health (WFBH), local, regional, and national practice data; formal and informal surveys of past or potential participants; new medical information; national, state, and specialty society practice guidelines; and environmental trends.
As a school of medicine, WFSM has an obligation to teach future physicians and other health care providers, which includes an appreciation and awareness of lifelong learning. By involving fellows, residents, and students in the CME planning process as well as encouraging their participation in CME activities and learning, faculty and staff help them recognize the importance of continual professional development.
The OCME provides CME to a local, regional, national, and international audience of physicians, including WFBH employees and WFSM alumni. Recognizing the importance of the multidisciplinary health care team and its effectiveness on improved patient care and safety, the OCME promotes its CME activities to other health care providers and encourages their active participation.
Type of Activities:
The OCME provides a wide range of learning opportunities including, but not limited to:
- Postgraduate activities;
- Regularly scheduled conferences;
- Enduring materials, including live and archived web-based activities;
- Journal clubs;
- Tumor boards;
- Jointly sponsored activities, including community hospital/health care facility activities;
- Performance improvement (PI) activities; and
- Individualized learning experiences.
All CME activities are developed in compliance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Updated Accreditation Criteria, the 2004 Updated ACCME Standards for Commercial Support: Standards to Ensure the Independence of CME Activities, the AMA’s Physician’s Recognition Award and Credit System, and the policies and procedures of WFBH/WFSM.
By identifying professional practice gaps, the OCME helps physicians and other health care providers recognize the difference between their current practice patterns and those potentially achievable that would lead to practice improvement and thus better, safer care for individuals, communities, and populations. The education that is developed to address these gaps leads to changes in physician competence, performance, and/or patient outcomes depending upon the individual CME activity. With its efforts to improve knowledge, skills, attitudes, abilities, and performance, the OCME encourages constant self-evaluation of the learner – reinforcing current knowledge and facilitating awareness of weaknesses and opportunities for improved learning, thus developing desirable attributes for today’s and tomorrow’s physician.
The provision of CME not only encourages an appreciation of lifelong learning but recognition of the value of teaching to others, from students to veteran practitioners. The OCME encourages the incorporation of this value into the WFSM promotion and tenure process, the molding of future physicians, and professional colleague interaction.
For Directly Sponsored/Co-Sponsored Activities
The Wake Forest School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
For Jointly Sponsored Activities
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint sponsorship of Wake Forest School of Medicine and (name of non-accredited provider). The Wake Forest School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
For more information on specific course accreditation and credit, please see the course brochure.
April 9, 2007 – Approved by the Office of Continuing Medical Education
May 14, 2007 – Approved by the Continuing Medical Education Committee
June 13, 2007 – Approved by the Senior Vice-President and Dean and the Faculty Executive Council