Planning Committee Policy
The planning committee initiating CME activities must fulfill the duties listed below. The timeline explains when to submit forms for category I credit.
- Identify and document needs
- Establish the goal of the activity
- Create objectives
- Develop the activity title
- Identify the target audience
- Choose the activity date and location
- Identify speakers
- Resolve any speaker conflict of interest (See: COI Policy)
- Communicate all conflicts of interest and commercial support to the audience (See: COI Policy)
- List contributors
- Create the activity content, including a desirable physician attribute
- Ensure appropriate disclosure is communicated to the audience (See: Disclosure to the Audience Guidelines)
All CME educational activities developed and presented by a provider accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and associated with AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ (PDF) must be developed and presented in compliance with all ACCME accreditation requirements - in addition to all the requirements of the AMA PRA program.
Conflict of Interest: The CME program's policy to identify and resolve conflicts of interest is drawn from the School's Conflict of Interest Policy adopted November 2008. An individual who refuses to disclose relevant financial relationships will be disqualified from being a planning committee member, a presenter or an author of CME and cannot have control of, or responsibility for, the development, management, presentation or evaluation of a CME activity.
Conflict of Interest Resolution: If a planning committee member discloses a conflict interest, they must submit their Resume or CV and their involvement with the planning of the activity will be closely monitored by the Physician Course Chair. The Physician Course Chair will attest to monitoring the Planning Committee member in question by signing the Planning Committee Attestation Document. The Director of Continuing Medical Education will oversee the planning committee member(s) Conflict of Interest document, resume/ CV, and the activity application and will then determine the resolution. The application must include an evaluation that has a question asking if the audience perceived any bias throughout the activity. The Resolution of conflict will be documented by the Director of Continuing Medical Education.
- If the Physician Course Chair discloses a conflict of interest, they must submit the same materials as a planning committee member. The Director of Continuing Medical Education will oversee all application materials.)
CV/Resume: Planning committee members who are not current BSOM faculty must submit a current CV or resume with the conflict of interest disclosure.
For more information: Individuals involved in CME events are encouraged to visit National Faculty Education Initiative website to take a free 30-minute tutorial on eliminating commercial bias from CME presentations.
Another resource for information for those who plan and participate in CME and improvement programs is the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The AAMC CME website is a guide to employ best educational methods of quality improvement and performance improvement principles to close the clinical care gap.
