Educational Programs – Content vs Process February 12, 2010

Recently, a very senior and respected colleague in the EP community expressed concern about the direction that the Heart Rhythm Society’s educational programs seemed to be taking. He explained that in the past, the focus was always on developing and presenting excellent programs, whether it was the Annual Scientific Sessions, Advanced Ablation Course, or other Society programs. But now, he argued, it seems that more effort is spent on evaluating for bias and documenting its absence, conducting needs assessments and evaluations, and measuring outcomes than on the educational content itself. Why should we expend so much effort on these types of things? After all, haven’t we proven over the years that we know how to produce excellent, balanced educational programs?

Unfortunately, there is tremendous scrutiny on physicians and medical societies these days by the public, media, and Congress. Simply stating that we know how to do this doesn’t pass muster anymore. The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) has developed increasingly stringent requirements and guidelines for CME providers. There is no doubt that unless the Society’s educational programs satisfy all of these requirements, we will lose our accreditation as a CME provider. As education is one of our core mission areas, we cannot let this happen. (more…)