Continuing Medical Education

Objectives Guidelines

Objectives will clearly and concisely communicate what an attendee is expected to know and/or do at the conclusion of an activity. Objectives must be included in the brochure so the attendees may evaluate the relevance of attending a CME activity. The planning committee and the speaker develop objectives to focus on the mission of CME.

Guide to Developing Objectives

The three essential elements of learning objectives are a statement of who (the learner), how (the action verb), and what (the content).

Who How What
The learner will be able To name The three elements in the management of perennial rhinitis
The participants will be able To identify The psychosocial factors important in the development of the child abuse syndrome
The physician will be able To explain The dangers of using hexachlorophene in skin prophylaxis of the newborn
The healthcare provider will be able To perform CPR

Examples of How

  • To apply      
  • To arrange       
  • To assess       
  • To categorize       
  • To classify       
  • To contrast      
  • To construct       
  • To create
  • To describe
  • To defend
  • To diagram
  • To discuss
  • To discriminate
  • To distinguish
  • To employ
  • To evaluate
  • To explain
  • To formulate
  • To illustrate
  • To integrate
  • To interpret
  • To list
  • To name
  • To organize
  • To predict
  • To prepare
  • To recall
  • To recognize
  • To relate
  • To review
  • To report
  • To sort
  • To solve problems
  • To translate
  • To update

Examples of What

Consider adding performance standards to your learning objectives. Wording that describes acceptable standards might include:

  • in a fifteen-minute time period
  • with no mistakes
  • with 98% accuracy
  • getting 22 out of 25 correct

Define the criteria or conditions under which the learning is to be demonstrated. Wording that describes learning conditions might include:

  • Given a problem of the following type...
  • Without the use of any reference materials...
  • Using a specific instrument.

 

Last edited on 07/18/2018.