The UConn School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) as a provider of continuing medical education. The school offers a variety of ACCME accredited continuing education programs by working in partnership with UConn Health Departments.
The UConn School of Medicine's Office of Community and Continuing Medical Education serves the educational needs of physicians and other clinicians both within UConn Health and throughout the state of Connecticut. The office supports educators who strive to plan, implement, and evaluate educational events whose goals are to enhance patient care and to improve clinical practice. The office accomplishes these goals by sponsoring, reviewing, and approving educational programs, as well as a by providing knowledgeable faculty to present and discuss important health-related matters.
Vision
The vision of the Office of Community and Continuing Medical Education is to become a leading resource in the state of Connecticut to promote and improve the performance and competency of health care professionals, to improve patient care outcomes, and to inform the communities served by UConn Health of health care issues.
Mission
The mission of the Office of Community and Continuing Medical Education (OCCME) comes under and is aligned to the primary mission of UConn School of Medicine. The primary mission of the UConn School of Medicine is innovation, discovery, education and service. The school trains the next generation of medical students, residents, specialty fellows, and clinical practitioners in an environment of exemplary patient care, research, and public service. The School of Medicine's mission is reflected in its programs, which incorporate four basic interrelated goals; (1) to advance knowledge through basic, biomedical, clinical, translational, behavioral, and social research; (2) to provide educational opportunities for Connecticut and U.S. residents pursuing careers in the patient care professions, education, public health, biomedical and/or behavioral sciences; (3) to develop, demonstrate, and deliver health care services based on effectiveness, efficiency, and the application of the latest advances in clinical, translational and health care research; and (4) to help health care professionals maintain their competence through continuing education programs.
The Office of Community and Continuing Medical Education (OCCME) supports the mission of UConn School of Medicine in the following ways:
- Notes the requirements and facilitates the assessment of needs that UConn Health and other clinicians have for ongoing education as part of continuous professional development;
- Facilitates the identification of quality gaps in practice by entities seeking accredited CME;
- Provides oversight of a coordination and collaboration with Departments, Divisions, and other entities seeking accredited continuing medical education;
- Informs Senior Administration about the linkage of accredited CME to Quality Improvement, Faculty Development, and System Redesign;
- Helps educate about the changing nature of continuing medical education (CME), explaining that accredited CME is not a passive process involving only new knowledge acquisition, but must address improvements in competency, performance, and outcomes;
- Periodically provide centralized CME activities that address shared issues, problems, and concerns at UConn Health and in the communities it serves;
- Ensures that the policies and procedures for continuing and community education are in compliance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education; and
- Supports and conducts research on the education of health professionals and links CME with LCME and ACGME standards to create a culture of learning and education at UConn Health.
Target Audience
The UConn School of Medicine’s target audience of UConn CME includes the broad range of the medical profession, from full-time practitioners to academic physicians with special interests in research and teaching, primary care providers, and other related health professionals. The ACCME credits through the office of Community and Continuing Medical Education is specifically associated with those licensed as M.D., D.O., and APRNs, however, all other related health professionals are welcome to attend any CME event and use the certificate of credit for their certificate attendance for their own professional development activities.
Content Areas
The activities sponsored by the UConn Community and Continuing Medical Education include primary care, specialty, academics and research, and a host of sub-specialty topics in the field of medicine. The scope of these activities involves the body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the professions as within basic medical sciences, clinical medicine, and academic education and research.
Types of Activities
UConn Community and Continuing Medical Education partners with various UConn Health Departments to offer programs tailored to complement the specific target audience needs and schedule through the following educational activities such as conferences, workshops; live virtual courses; enduring materials; and grand rounds. Content is based on evidence and changes according to ongoing needs assessments by UConn Health Department needs for internal quality improvement initiatives and community physician needs.
Accreditation
UConn School of Medicine CME is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. UConn CME strictly adheres to the ACCME Essential Areas and their Elements as its planning framework. All CME-certified programs are carefully planned so as to comply with their requirements. As such, the UConn office of Community and Continuing Medical Education embraces the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education’s policy definition of CME: