SternViews

Contract for Mutual Responsibility in CME

I have been writing and revising this statement for probably a year.

I feel that as we at Projects In Knowledge continue to evolve along with the new Standards for Commercial Support, there is no better time to issue this and stand by it.

This will eventually appear on all our activities' printed materials, invitations, posters, websites, etc.

The following are the obligations for both Projects In Knowledge and the Clinician Learner in this activity:

Projects In Knowledge will provide:
1. A trusting learning environment free of commercial bias.
2. A program that has been peer reviewed (enduring materials) to ensure fair balance by an independent expert in the field not affiliated with the content development of this program.
3. Faculty that embrace and support our efforts.
4. Acknowledgment of off label uses of pharmaceutical products discussed.
4. Content targeted at a level meaningful for this clinician group and their patients.
5. Ample time allowed for questions from the floor to add to the scientific rigor and real life clinical appropriateness of information provided.
6. Access to a “Content Ombudsman” who will handle questions on enduring materials that are not answered by this activity.
7. A dynamic learning and implementation process that meets the providers rigorous obligations to multiple accreditation/regulatory bodies, and that shows that Projects In Knowledge will be forever evolving and striving to do the right thing .

Clinicians Responsibility will be to:
1. Be an active participant in the activity.
2. Ask questions relevant to patient care concerns.
3. Commit yourself to the entire activity time frame, because it is only then that the total learning can be experienced, utilized and measured.
4. Allow this activity to be only a part of your total learning experience and not serve as the only education to treat a patient.
5. Aid in developing future activities by being a strong participant. The evaluation form assists us in this process; please give it careful professional consideration when filling it out.
6. Return to your practice and mentor the learning experience with your colleagues. Projects In Knowledge can provide extra material for this effort and would be more than pleased to do so.

Solutions Oriented

I have taken a few days off from this site. The time off was taken to gain
some perspective on the 7 weeks of writing that I have devoted to this blog.
Perhaps I have made my initial point in the last few weeks, which was
that while there is a lot going on in the MedEd community, and while it may be rough going for a bit longer, we in MedEd need to know that we’re providing a vitally important service so that we can move on to new issues.

I’m positioning this site on a public access platform. Up till now it was used as an in-house training and information tool for Projects In Knowledge.

I think that during the last 7 weeks of writing I’ve put the MedEd business reasonably into context as it faces a dynamic environment. I invite all new readers to look through the January and February archives and review some of the topics covered. Going forward I will occasionally refer to relevant past stories.

In upcoming blogs I will of course periodically deal with any breaking news,
but my main effort will be solution-oriented. While focusing each day on mostly controversial issues, I realized that while I attempt to propose solutions to our industry problems, they are framed by a great deal of negative rhetoric from pundits, critics and dilettantes that assault us with their criticisms but offer no solutions. So henceforth this will be a site given more to positives than to negatives and aimed at putting us on a straight path to excellence.

To effect these positive recommendations/solutions, I will point to the
contributions we in MedEd make each day. In this effort I welcome your comments and active participation.

This Business Is Intellectually Stimulating!

I'm watching the Golden Globe Awards show. It hit me that the reason there are screenwriters is that both the celebrities and the interviewers are illiterate.

They are embarrassing themselves with their questions, answers, language and depth of knowledge.

Reaching superficial would seriously upgrade this event.

In MedEd we have the privilege of understanding, interpreting and presenting complex scientific information.

We are part of the cutting-edge medicine information team.

We interact with the smartest people in the world.
World class thought leaders, day-to-day practitioners, research scientists, educators, writers, designers, on and on.

Our MedEd teams are well educated and hungry for knowledge. Interested in doing the right thing. Concerned and aware of their moral and ethical obligations.

Perhaps most important, we are part of the information chain that helps people.

Why wouldn't someone want to be in this business!

After Thirty Years

After thirty years in the medical education field I have seen the continual inventing and reinventing of our business. Today's challenges may be the most controversial and difficult strategic inflection point for our marketplace.

With many diverse and conflicting masters to serve, ACCME, AMA, FDA, OIG, Pharma and the funderopolies with their preferred vendor programs and confusing points of view, we face a dynamic and stressful marketplace.

Who are we, what will we be, is there a productive future for us?

It is my hope, this site will give us all a forum through which to comment and present thoughtful, compelling, and proactive ideas with the openness and candor generally missing from most of the communications we have available to us.

The past year of 2003 has set the stage. Consumer media focus and challenges, governmental authorities, funder reactions have put it all in motion.

For 2004 I invite all medical education professionals, funders and critics at large to be active participants. Submit your thoughts, comments and viewpoints.

My goal is to update daily (Monday through Friday) beginning in mid January, invite guest contributors we all want to hear from and provide a gathering place where we can receive direction and comfort.

I think it is appropriate that we begin with an article recently published in the British Medical Journal. While meant for new medical student's I believe it is as meaningful and relevant for us as we seek to find our place.