Introduction to Online CME

1. Introduction to Online CME • Bernard M Sklar, M.D., M.S. • bersklar@netcantina.com • February 2003

2. What is Online CME? • Online CME is a way to earn CME credits, over the Internet, using your computer, from home or office

3. What do I need to get Started? • A computer • Internet connection (faster is better) • Speakers connected to computer • Printer connected to computer

4. What are the types of instruction I may find in Online CME? • Simple Text or Text-and-graphics (like reading a textbook or journal) • Slide-audio or slide-video lectures (like being at a lecture) • Case-based interactive (like treating a “real” patient); you get to make choices according to the clinical presentation

5. More instruction Types of Online CME • Quiz questions and answers (the program asks you a question, waits for your answer, then gives you explanations and information based on your answer) • Games (like golf, where you gain or lose points for your answers) • Correspondence courses (a group of doctors study material and correspond with each other by email)

6. How much does Online CME cost? • Surprisingly inexpensive! • There are more than 2000 hours of Online CME available without charge • Another 16,000 hours cost $5 to $15 per hour • A small minority of credits costs more than $15 per credit-hour

7. Don’t Worry • Don’t be concerned about “visiting” an Online CME web site • There is almost never any fee to look at the site or the list of courses • You will, however, usually be asked to give some basic information about yourself and to choose a user name and password before going too far

8. Why should I bother? • “I get all the CME I need at live meetings” • “Why should I bother doing it at the computer?” • BECAUSE…

9. Why you should bother • …Online CME is always there, waiting for you, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, at home or at the office • You can proceed at your own speed • No travel costs • Very inexpensive

10. Is it hard to do Online CME? • No!! • If you have basic internet skills, such as pointing and clicking, going forward and back in your browser and two-finger typing, you will do just fine

11. How do I find the CME courses that I want to look at? • This can be a problem, especially at first, because there are more than 200 web sites offering more than 10,000 activities and more than 19,000 credit hours • There is no ONE place on the Internet which will show you exactly the instruction you want. • HOWEVER….

12. How do I find the CME courses that I want to look at? • ...a good way to start is at the • Annotated List of Online CME, www.cmelist.com/list.htm • Choose your area of interest or medical specialty • And choose from the sites or courses that seem to be of interest

13. Family Practice • A family doctor might start at the Family Practice Section of the CME List, and go from there to the • American Academy of Family Physicians site or to • FamilyPractice.com, sponsored by the American Board of Family Practice

14. Internist • An internist might start at the Internal Medicine section of the Online CME List, and go from there to • Clinical Problem Solving Cases, sponsored by ACP/ASIM, or to • Johns Hopkins Advanced Studies in Medicine

15. Cardiologist • A cardiologist could start at the Cardiology section of the Online CME List and go to • CardioVillage (University of Virginia) or • Baylor University’s extensive list of cardiology offerings

16. Other Specialties • You will find courses in 25 specialty areas, from Allergy to Urology, linked from the main page of the • Annotated List of Online CME

17. Finding Online CME - Medscape • Visit Medscape, and register • Registration is unobtrusive and easy • Each time you re-visit Medscape, you will automatically go to your specialty area • Medscape has about 150 CME courses at any one time; most offer 1.5 free credit hours; most are text or slide-audio lectures • You can search Medscape by keyword for CME subjects of interest to you • With your permission, Medscape will send you periodic emails about CME courses that may interest you

18. Finding Online CME – DocGuide • Visit Doctor’s Guide and register • As with Medscape, you can set up a home page for your specialty and receive emails about courses of interest • You can search for courses by medical topic • About 1000 courses are currently described • The CME courses you find are not produced by DocGuide. However DocGuide gives you enough information to help you decide whether to visit the course. When you visit the new site, you may have to register again and pay for CME credit

19. Finding Online CME – CE Medicus • CE Medicus offers access and free CME credit to about 450 online CME activities created by six CME providers • You can search by medical keyword for courses of interest • You need to register only once • CE Medicus will also keep track of all your CME requirements and all your CME activities if you wish

20. cmecourses (Healthstream) CME web Moffitt Cancer Network NEJM Weekly CME Program Postgraduate Medicine psychLINK Pulmonary and Critical Care Update RSNA Link Thyroid Disease Manager University of Alabama World Medical Leaders Finding Online CME – Other Sites with Search Engines

21. What do I do now? • Visit The List of Online CME or • Medscape or • Doctor’s Guide or • CE Medicus or • Your specialty society website or • Any online CME site you may heard of, and have a look.

22. Questions/Comments? • Contact Bernard Sklar, MD, MS at • bersklar@netcantina.com • Or visit • www.cmelist.com