APTR-CDC Fellowship - Interprofessional Education 2014-15

Don't miss your opportunity to apply for the APTR-CDC Fellowship - Interprofessional Education 2014-15

Fellowship Title:

• Interprofessional Education Approach to Develop Public Health Practice & Policy

Sponsoring CDC Center:

• Center for Surveillance, Epidemiology and Laboratory Services (CSELS); Division of Scientific Education, Professional Development (DSEPD); Public Health Practice and Policy Branch (PHPPB)

Project Focus Area:

• The project focus area will be workforce development/education and training. The APTR fellow will be assigned to the PHPP Branch which houses 4 fellowships: Prevention Effectiveness (i.e., Economics focus); Preventive Medicine Fellowship; Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program; and Presidential Management Fellowship (i.e., management & leadership). The project will entail exposure to 4 fellowships that provide applied public health practice and policy experiences to CDC fellows.

Center Background and Objectives:

• DSEPD [www.cdc.gov/osels/scientific_edu] provides leadership in public health training and education, and manages innovative, evidence-based programs to prepare the health workforce to meet public health challenges of the 21st century.

About APTR

Established in 1942, the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR) is a national membership organization for faculty and academic institutions advancing the education of physicians and other health professionals in prevention and population health.

Learn more here.

See you in Orlando for the Alliance for CME (now Alliance for CEHP)

I'll see you in Orlando for the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (CME), now the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (CEHP). This year, the focus is on "Improving Professional Competence, Provider Performance, and Patient Care." At this year's conference, I'll be speaking about the use of social media in continuing medical education.

This is the largest annual conference that draws professionals who work in the continuing medical education industry. The Alliance is a diverse community of professionals dedicated to accelerating excellence in health care performance through education, advocacy, and collaboration. Learn more about the Alliance here: http://www.acme-assn.org

I'm in Philadelphia attending the PACME conference #PACME11

I'm in Philadelphia attending the Pharmaceutical Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (PACME) conference.

PACME Spring Summit
May 12-13, 2011 | Sofitel® Philadelphia | Philadelphia, PA

The main purpose of the Pharmaceutical Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (PACME) Member Section is to provide a forum for Alliance members interested in advancing innovation in CME/CPD through collaboration and partnerships with providers of CME/CPD; allow for exchange and sharing of best practices (appropriately allowed within the law) between industry representatives actively engaged in the CME/CPD enterprise; provide mentorship and networking opportunities; offer educational programming that features thought leaders, researchers and innovators in CME/CPD.

MIT Career Reengineering Program

The MIT Professional Education - Career Reengineering Program facilitates a complex task: retooling for contemporary science and technology careers. The 12-month, part-time program is designed as a series of educational experiences that will connect students with emerging technological fields and leverage their strengths into a strategic career plan.

Student Plan of Action:

• Assess your professional strengths and create a plan to build knowledge, skills, and networks.
• Select an MIT course that will offer you current knowledge in your field or establish expertise in a new field.
• Make full use of a world-renowned learning community through educational and networking opportunities in seminars, conferences, and lectures.
• Put new knowledge to work through an internship or research opportunity aligned with your career goals.
• Construct a strategic job search plan that is tailored to your interests, abilities, and job market opportunities.
• Develop a team of peers and mentors within the Career Reengineering Program and MIT to support your career aspirations.
• Focus on personal development as a long-term, career-enhancement strategy.

Physician salaries in the CME industry

This month is CME month here on NonClinicalJobs.com and as the month wraps up, I'll be publishing the results from an informal salary survey that I conducted. The purpose of this survey was to collect data on "medical director" physician salaries in the CME industry. I realize that some physicians work as medical writers, but I'm not including medical writer salaries since AMWA already has a nice salary survey.

I'm also focusing my survey on positions within medical education and communication companies, also known as MECCs. How much do you think physicians can make in various "medical director" positions? By that, I mean that some companies have the "medical director" position broken down into different levels such as:

1. Associate Director of Medical Affairs (or, simply: Associate Medical Director)
2. Medical Director (or, Director of Medical Affairs)
3. Senior Medical Director
4. VP of Medical Affairs (in some cases, the title is: VP and Medical Director)
5. Senior VP or SVP of Medical Affairs
6. Executive VP or EVP of Medical Affairs
7. CMO or Chief Medical Officer (in some cases, the title is combined: EVP and CMO)
8. President or CEO (yes, some physicians own and run CME companies) 

The most common title I've ever seen within a CME company is simply "Medical Director."  Within large corporations, you're likely to find that physician positions are broken down into the 7 positions listed above. In the world of CME and medical education, I don't think you'll see many physicians who hold titles such as #6 or #7 in many education companies. For that matter, some small companies only have a single medical director who reports directly to the CEO and that individual is called the "Medical Director." Other companies may have over 10 medical directors who are all called "Medical Directors" and they may have a managing VP above them or they may report to a CMO or an EVP.

To further confuse matters, in many CME companies, the term "Medical Director" is often used for non-physicians (such as pharmacists, nurses, NPs, PAs, or people who have a PhD). This doesn't necessarily change salary ranges, but it's an interesting point because in the clinical world, non-physicians generally don't make the same type of salary compared to physicians. However, in the world of CME, many non-physicians make more than physicians working in CME based on their levels of experience and management responsibilities.

Stay tuned to see the results of the survey. To ensure that you don't miss any new posts or articles, subscribe to updates by e-mail or by RSS. If you're an executive recruiter or an experienced CME professional and you'd like to offer your input on this survey, contact me.

CME professionals are moving out of CME

Well, maybe the actual jobs aren't shifting. People are definitely moving around. Over the past year, I've seen many CME (continuing medical education) companies shut down. Some people may refer to these companies as medical education and communication companies or MECCs. However, the word "communication" can be misleading because promotional educational companies may also be considered MECCs. Promotional education is very different from certified continuing medical education.

This year, I've seen many CME professionals move out of CME and transition into other industries. Times are difficult for those working in the CME industry. To be quite candid: it's difficult not to feel some level of discouragement about the overall CME industry.

Now, when I'm referring to the CME industry, I'm specifically speaking about industry-supported CME. Hospitals and other professional organizations will always provide CME to their physicians. However, if you're looking for free CME on the web, as print, as a teleconference, symposium, webinar, etc. - then you may see less industry-supported CME in the future.

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are making significant changes in the way they fund CME activities. The increased scrutiny has changed the landscape. However, I feel that many of these changes are good changes and they will eventually improve the overall CME industry.

2009 was a difficult year for many CME companies. Those who weathered the storm may see some increasing opportunities in 2010 if they position themselves strategically. Others may continue to struggle in 2010 as industry supporters commit fewer dollars to certified continuing medical education.

Thinking about going back to school?

Do you miss college? In so many ways, I wish I could go back in time and relive my four years at MIT. Those were some of the best years of my life. I've met many professionals who are seriously considering the option of going back to school to pursue a healthcare career. This might mean full-time or part-time education for the next few years to become a physician, pharmacist, nurse, nurse practitioner, physician assistant, pharmacy technician, etc. (the list could really go on). This could mean some post-bac programs, additional courses, and then four or more years in graduate school. Other people want to find a way to get into Technical Schools. Some hate the idea of taking another standardized exam like the GRE or MCAT. For those who find themselves struggling with standardized tests, I encourage them to find personal tutors to help them with their problem areas.

I've also run into high school students who are looking for career advice in the healthcare arena. Some high school graduates may be thinking about Career Colleges. Others have no idea what they plan to do with their lives. When I give advice to high school students, I refer them to something like the NCES (National Center for Education Statistics) College Navigator. It's hard to keep up with all the changes and the latest trends across different colleges and universities in the United States, let alone the rest of the world. As a member of the MIT Educational Council, I'm very familiar with the trends at MIT. However, that doesn't reflect what's going on in other schools.

So how about you? Here I am writing about non-clinical jobs for healthcare professionals who wish to leave the clinical setting to work in the business side of healthcare. Are you thinking about getting some education so that you can work on the clinical side? 

School of pharmaceutical and biotech business in oncology

It's hard to believe that October is right around the corner. The fall is a busy time for me when I do a bit of traveling for work-related meetings, conferences, etc. Here's a meeting that I thought would be interesting to you (I won't be there, but perhaps you may wish to attend). This falls into the category of "executive education." You won't get a degree, but you'll gain some valuable insights. 

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Academy for Excellence and Leadership in Oncology™ School of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Business.

Here's some information from their e-mail and website:

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology professionals are given the rare opportunity to view the oncology space, its future and its current operational issues from the provider and payer perspective. Participants will improve their working knowledge of key business, policy, coverage, reimbursement, informational, and operational issues in oncology and will gather valuable insights material to developing effective strategies for navigating the various constituencies in cancer care. Through this interactive program, pharma and biotech professionals will learn from key stakeholders what they view to be the most pressing issues in oncology today and how to apply this knowledge to create mutually-successful working relationships.

Pharmaceutical and biotech industry professionals will:

• improve their working knowledge of key business, policy, coverage, reimbursement, informational, and operational issues in oncology
• gather valuable insights material to developing effective strategies for navigating the various constituencies in cancer care
• learn from key stakeholders what they view to be the most pressing issues in oncology today and how to apply this knowledge to create mutually-successful working relationships
• be better able to serve your customers with improved knowledge of real-world oncology issues

This program is specifically designed for experienced pharmaceutical and biotech industry professionals from marketing, sales, medical affairs, clinical research, policy and government affairs, and other business areas within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

This program is next month (October 14-15) in Chicago, IL. To learn more and to enroll, click here.

Careers in the evolving world of CME

Over the next few weeks, I'll be writing about my personal experiences in the evolving world of certified CME (continuing medical education). I've been involved in the CME industry for a number of years on various different levels. Many physicians require CME for relicensure. Some states still don't require CME, but I see that changing in the future. We now have much more free CME available, thanks to industry support. However, will that last? Finally, what types of non-clinical physician careers are still available in the changing world of CME? We're seeing fewer jobs out there as companies choose to leave the world of certified CME and pursue opportunities in promotional education.

Perhaps one area that will remain viable is in nursing education. Nurses often refer to their continuing education (CE) credit as CEUs (continuing education units). For a long time, many states did not require nurses to have any form of CE. However, this trend is changing and nurses are eager for any type of free CE, including industry-supported CE. Will pharma and biotech companies continue to fund continuing education if it's only for nurses?

Careers in CME (continuing medical education)

What's happening in the CME (continuing medical education) industry these days? Most physicians need CME for relicensure, so there will always be a need for CME. Pharmacists and nurses also need continuing education credits/units, but who pays for CME/CE when so much free CME/CE is readily available?

If you're interested in pursing a career in CME, you may wish to start by exploring some of the CME-related groups on LinkedIn. You may also want to explore the "CME Career Center" at the Alliance for CME (ACME) website, which can be found here: http://careers.acme-assn.org
(There aren't many jobs currently posted as of today)

For Employers: Target a focused audience of qualified CME professionals, post your jobs, search resumes or create a resume agent to get automatic email notification whenever a candidate matches your criteria.

For Job Seekers: Make your resume work for you 24 hours a day/7 days a week! Post your resume confidentially if you choose, search job listings and activate the job agent to have select jobs come to your inbox. And best of all, these services are free!

On a personal note, I'd like to add my 2 cents about industry-supported CME: I'm not sure that this is the best time to enter the CME industry. These are some turbulent times for medical education providers that primarily focus on industry-supported certified CME. Many proposals are floating around to change (or even eliminate) industry-supported CME. I don't think that industry-supported CME will ever disappear, but I do think we'll see some significant changes over the next few years. Stay tuned...

Fundamentals of Clinical Research

The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) has a two-day course coming up. It's called: Fundamentals of Clinical Research

Sept. 10-11, 2009, Houston, TX
Oct. 15-16, 2009, Alexandria, VA

Fundamentals of Clinical Research is designed for those who aspire to the following roles: clinical research professionals managing studies at clinical research sites or monitoring studies, product managers, clinical investigators, institutional review board members, clinical pharmacologists, and research pharmacists.

Here are the learning objectives (you can receive continuing education credits):

* Discuss the main historical events which led to the increasing regulation of the development of medicinal products, devices and biologics
* Explain the differences in the development processes for medicinal products, devices and biologics
* Identify the roles and responsibilities of clinical research professionals in the overall process of conducting a clinical trial and how each professional contributes to that process
* Apply the principles of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) in their daily functions
* Identify the main regulations which govern the practice of clinical research
* Observe the additional rules applicable to research funded by the Federal government and bodies like the NCI and NIH
* Identify ethical issues involved with conducting clinical research
* Identify the protections given to human subjects in research
* Describe the process of obtaining informed consent from human subjects
* Describe the respective roles and responsibilities of clinical research professionals notably Clinical Research Coordinators (CRCs), and Clinical Research Associates (CRAs)
* Identify and evaluate Unanticipated Problems
* Define the criteria for reporting unanticipated problems and adverse events

If you're interested in pursuing a career in clinical research, then you may want to evaluate your skills and competencies based on the learning objectives listed above. How well can you explain/identify/describe/discuss/etc. each of the points listed above?

For more information about this course, click here.

MIT Sloan Executive Education: The power to turn crisis into opportunity

I'm a big fan of executive education. I'm a believer in lifelong education. I suppose every physician has to be, right? We're all called to continue our medical education through various certified CME (continuing medical education) courses.

Aside from medical education, what about executive education? MIT Sloan offers several executive education courses. If you're an MIT alumni, you can save 20% by using a special referral code. You can work your way to getting an MIT Sloan Executive Certificate if you complete enough courses. The areas of concentration include:

• Strategy and Innovation
• Technology, Operations, and Value Chain Management
• Management and Leadership

So, what are you waiting for? Did you know that MIT Sloan Executive Education also has a Twitter account? Follow @MITSloanExecEd and don't forget to follow me @DrJosephKim

CCMEP: Certified CME Professional

There are unique acronyms in every industry. The health information technology (Health IT, HIT, HITECH) industry is full of strange and convoluted acronyms. The world of certified medical education also has its share of acronyms and I wish to outline a few here.

• CCMEP: Certified CME Professional. It seems like everyone wants to have some level of certification. Who provides this certification?
  
• NC-CME: National Commission for Certification of CME Professionals, Inc.
• CME: Continuing Medical Education
• CNE: Continuing Nursing Education
• CPE: Continuing Pharmacy Education or Continuing Professional Education
• CPD: Continuing Professional Development
• CPPD: Continuing Physician Professional Development or Continuing Pharmacy Professional Development
• CE: Continuing Education

Jobs in CME

While some companies that focus solely on certified medical education (or CME/CE) are losing people and down-sizing, others are hiring, either to replace people or because they are growing. I've been seeing a variety of job posts on LinkedIn and other sites. Simultaneously, I'm getting contacted by more and more candidates who are looking for opportunities.

The CME industry is going through some major changes and some companies (also known as MECCs or Medical Education and Communication Companies) that have been around for almost 20 years are choosing to leave the world of CME to pursue opportunities in the non-CME side of medical education. Others are simply shutting their doors and closing.

This is not the most opportune time to enter into a career as a CME professional. If you'd like to learn more about what it means to be a CME professional, take a look at the National Commission for Certification of CME Professionals, Inc. (NC-CME). There, you'll find a list of people who are recognized as Certified CME Professionals (CCMEPs™).

Physician Leadership College

Have you heard of "executive education?" If you're a physician executive, then you're probably quite familiar with the term. The Physician Leadership College is offered by the University of St. Thomas and if you want to get some executive education, then you may want to take a look at this program. The educational approach involves the following:
* 18-month program
* Curriculum based on 10 learning modules (3-5 days each)
* Cohort-style learning environment
* Executive coaching/mentorship

The program is created by the University of St. Thomas and sponsored by the Minnesota Medical Association.

Looking for a New Career Opportunity?

If you're thinking about a new career opportunity, you may be looking for resources that point you in the right direction. Maybe you know someone who has lost a job and needs to find work, but you don't know how to help. Maybe you even know some people who are completely switching industries and they're thinking about a healthcare-related vocational career like nursing. In the world of healthcare, there are many jobs that are currently available for people who have the right education and training. Do you know what it takes to get into medical billing? What if you wanted to become a nurse or a pharmacist? There are also many opportunities for pharmacy technicians. Would you know where to begin? Maybe you've been thinking about going back to school and you're looking for some information about educational programs.

What is the median hourly rate for medical billing managers? It seems to range between $15 to 18 according to PayScale. You can find this time of information at Train4VocationalCareer. At this site, you'll find information ranging from vocational careers for adults to various educational programs. You'll even find information about teaching and healthcare programs. Many schools now offer online programs for nursing and other healthcare fields so that you can study and maintain a flexible schedule. The need for healthcare workers is only going to grow, so the opportunities are out there for people who wish to switch careers of find a new one.

Best Online MBA for a Physician

This question comes up all the time: "What's the best online MBA for a physician?"

There's no easy answer, since it probably really depends on what that physician wants to do with that MBA. Is he/she interested in starting a business and becoming an entrepreneur? How about running a hospital? (in which case a master's in medical management of a master's in health administration may be more beneficial). What if you want to go into pharma? Do you need an MBA? No. However, if you want to work on the marketing side of pharma, then it may be very beneficial to have some marketing expertise.

An MBA can also be very useful if you want to go into finance or consulting. I've discovered that most physicians don't really understand the corporate business world. By "most" I mean those who go straight from a biology/chemistry/science undergraduate degree to medical school. They lack any "real world working experience." They've been a lifelong student!

Do some research before pursuing an MBA. Don't simply look for the "best" since one size doesn't fit all physicians. There are so many different non-clinical opportunities for physicians and you may find that an MBA is not usually required for most of them.

Working in Medical Education

I've had many people ask me about the world of medical education. One might think that medical education is fairly simple and straight forward, but it's much more complex because of the need for certified continuing education. Then you have promotional medical education activities that may look like a robust educational program (but you have to recognize them as promotional activities).

How do you get your CME/CE? Do you attend major medical meetings? Do you participate in online educational activities? Do you read journals? Online web portals and online courses offer very convenient ways to get continuing education.

Online Continuing Education

How do you get your continuing education? Do you take classes? Read? Online programs?

Many more people are getting their continuing education online. Do you ever consider getting an online master's degree (say an MBA, an MPH, an MEd, an MS, or an MA)? You've probably seen ads for Walden University, the University of Phoenix, Capella University, DeVry University, and others.

But did you know that some of the most prestigious universities offer online master's degrees? For instance, Johns Hopkins offers an online MPH program where the vast majority of the coursework is Internet-based. Emory University offers a similar online MPH.

Getting a master's degree has many benefits, even if you're a seasoned healthcare professional. There's a reason why executive MBA programs are so popular among senior-level corporate executives. There's so much you can learn in the classroom, but more importantly - there's so much you can learn from each of your colleagues and peers. If you're planning on a career change, then you may want to look at some sources of continuing education. Maybe it will be worth your investment to even enroll in a degree program.

Visit Oncology Corner

Visit OncologyCorner.com for FREE certified CME/CE activities in oncology. Oncology Corner is a portal page on CMEcorner.com