connection February 1996

Continuing Medical Education
Dr. Don Langille, Associate Dean

As 1996 begins, CME is preparing for a major shift in programming emphasis. Although short course attendance has been generally good, it has become more difficult to attract the level of pharmaceutical support necessary to fully recover the costs of these programs. This has led to the decision to substantially reduce CME's involvement in short course programming, while providing more community-based and distance education opportunities. Beginning with the 1996/97 academic year, we will take full financial and management responsibility only for the fall and spring refreshers, which require central coordination due to their complexity and multi-disciplinary nature. Departments and divisions will continue to provide updates in a range of clinical areas, and CME will continue to represent the faculty, advising on educational matters and assessing and assigning appropriate study credits. The Continuing Medical Education Advisory Committee will be developing a mechanism for scheduling such events and the CME office will offer optional coordinating services, on a cost-recovery basis. This decentralization will allow departments and divisions to benefit more fully from the results of their teaching, and will allow CME to stabilize its business planning.

January was a busy month, with the Update in Pediatrics (January 19), the first Computers in Medical Practice workshop (January 20), an Emergency Medicine workshop in Charlottetown (January 20), the final session of the 1995/96 Management Program for Clinical Leaders (January 25-27), and several community and videoconference programs. Space in the limited-enrolment computer workshops was taken up very quickly. Those who missed this opportunity will be pleased to know that the series will be repeated in the fall.