Content Areas

 The OCME uses the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates’ definition of CME - "educational activities that serve to maintain, develop, or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession. The content of CME is the body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by the profession as within the basic medical sciences, the discipline of clinical medicine, and the provision of health care to the public."

All content promotes improvements in patient care and not a specific proprietary business or commercial interest. Recommendations involving clinical medicine are based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients. In addition, all scientific research referred to, reported, or used in support or justification of a patient care recommendation conforms to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection, and analysis.

Using adult learning principles, the OCME assists WFSM faculty, staff, and affiliated individuals, groups, and organizations in planning, developing, providing, and evaluating CME on medical and health care topics based on educational gaps, needs, and/or interests. These gaps, needs, and interests are identified by multiple sources, including, but not limited to: past activity evaluation data; faculty, staff, and outside practitioner recommendations based upon experiences in the clinical setting; committee findings; literature reviews and Internet searches; Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center (WFBMC), local, regional, and national practice data; formal and informal surveys of potential participants; new medical information; national and state practice guidelines; and environmental trends including those as a result of direct to consumer marketing efforts.

As a school of medicine, WFSM has an obligation to teach future physicians and other health care providers, which includes an appreciation and awareness of lifelong learning. By involving fellows, residents, and students in the CME planning process as well as encouraging their participation in CME activities and learning, faculty and staff help them recognize the importance of continual professional development.