The Journal of continuing education in the health professions
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2006
Effects of a distance learning program on physicians' opioid- and benzodiazepine-prescribing skills.
Opioid misuse is common among patients with chronic nonmalignant pain. There is a pressing need for physicians to increase their confidence and competence in managing these patients. ⋯ Facilitated by electronic mail and a medical expert, case discussion is an effective means of improving physician performance. Telephone consultation holds promise as a method for evaluating physicians' assessment and management skills.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2005
Design and implementation of training to improve management of pediatric overweight.
Clinicians report a low proficiency in treating overweight children and using behavioral management strategies. This paper documents the design and implementation of a training program to improve clinicians' skills in the assessment and behavioral management of pediatric overweight. ⋯ A brief, cost effective, multi-faceted training and provision of counseling tools were perceived as helpful to clinical practice. Useful lessons were learned about tool design and ways to fit tools into practice. Training the entire health care team is advantageous to the adoption of new tools and practices.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2005
Accreditation for learning and change: quality and improvement as the outcome.
Increased accountability for facilitating and demonstrating the continued competence of physicians and improvements in the quality of health care are being called for by government, the public, and organized medicine. Areas of critical skills have been identified by the Institute of Medicine, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and the American Board of Medical Specialties. These "competencies" serve as the framework around which medical school curricula, residency programs, and continuing medical education (CME) can be built. ⋯ CME providers can assist in the determination of need (self-assessment) by the physician, the delivery of education to meet that need, and the evaluation of education used to meet the need, especially as it relates to the practice performance of the physician. The ACCME, working with accredited providers, has embraced these expectations and believes that CME can meet these challenges with an approach that also expects independence from commercial interests and freedom from commercial bias. The CME enterprise is uniquely positioned to deliver effective education for learning and change.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2005
American Board of Medical Specialties and repositioning for excellence in lifelong learning: maintenance of certification.
The board certification movement was founded out of a concern for the quality of care, and today, more than 85% of all physicians licensed to practice medicine in the United States have been certified by an American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) member board. There is increasing evidence of a need for continuous monitoring and promotion of quality as well as for assessment and documentation that certified medical specialists are keeping up-to-date so that their continuing competence can be documented. ⋯ Maintenance of Certification includes 4 major components: professional standing, including an unrestricted license to practice medicine; lifelong learning and self-assessment; demonstrated cognitive expertise; and practice performance assessment. The efforts of the Conjoint Committee on Continuing Medical Education press continuing medical education providers to facilitate self-directed learning and directed self-learning while driving lifelong learning and assessment into the clinical practices of all physicians who seek to continuously upgrade their knowledge, skills, and behaviors to provide quality medical care.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2005
Telemedicine for access to quality care on medical practice and continuing medical education in a global arena.
Health care practices continue to evolve with technological advances integrating computer applications and patient information management into telemedicine systems. Telemedicine can be broadly defined as the use of information technology to provide patient care and share clinical information from one geographic location to another. Telemedicine can lower costs and increase access to health care, especially for those who live in remote or underserved areas. ⋯ Physician licensing becomes an issue because telemedicine facilitates consultations without respect to state or national borders. With the increased access to current information and resources, continuing medical education becomes more feasible with synchronous or asynchronous access to educational content. The challenge in implementation of these unique educational tools is the inclusion for standards of practice and appropriate regulatory mechanisms to cover the audiences.