Leadership Careers in Medical Education

Here's a book you won't want to miss if you have a passion for medical education:

Leadership Careers in Medical Education

Here's a brief description:

Offering knowledge and insight from medical leaders and prominent educators, Leadership Careers in Medical Education serves as a guide for current faculty and future leaders on how to launch, sustain, and further develop one s career in medical education. Examining the knowledge, skills, and attitudes associated with leadership in medical education, this book provides: Historical and contemporary perspectives on the organizational structure of internal medicine education in academic health centers Principles of medical education leadership The roles and responsibilities associated with careers in medical education Advice on leveraging existing resources and articulating the need for more Methods for designing a curriculum, evaluating learners and programs, and getting started in education research Practical suggestions for managing and advancing one s career A special section, Profiles of Leaders in Medical Education, features interviews with 15 highly esteemed leaders in internal medicine education about their chosen careers and how they achieved their goals. A part of ACP s Teaching Medicine Series, this title is available individually or as a part of the complete six-book set.

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.

2011 Annual CACHE Conference

The 2011 CACHE/ACEMC Annual Conference will be held in partnership with the National Continuing Competence Conference (NCCC)
at the Fairmont Banff SpringsHotel, Banff, Alberta, Canada, April 14-15.

Conference theme: Evolving Competence For Health Professions

For almost a decade, the annual meeting of the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (held in various cities in the US) included a “Canada Day” that was developed by and for Canadian CHE professionals. Canadians appreciated the opportunity to learn and grow from other CHE professionals working in a similar environment. The day became so popular that the regular members of the Canadian contingent began to talk about moving “Canada Day” to Canadian soil. Around the same time that this idea was being born, Canadians became acutely aware of the fact that the presenters at the main ACME sessions were predominantly Canadian.

I'll be in San Francisco Jan 25-30

I'm heading out to San Francisco Jan 25-30 for a conference called the Alliance for CME. This is a conference for professionals working in the continuing medical education or CME industry. Attendees come from medical universities, publishing companies, specialty societies, medical education companies, disease foundations and non-profit groups, technology vendors, and a host of other types of organizations.

If you live in the San Fransisco area and you'd like to get together, send me an e-mail here.

A growing interest in medical writing and the CME industry

Last night, I attended the AMWA-DVC (American Medical Writers Association - Delaware Valley Chapter) meeting at the Radnor Hotel. The session focused around the CME industry and the panel discussion revolved around writing needs assessments for CME proposals. The panelists discussed topics like clinical gap analysis, educational needs, knowledge deficits, instructional design, and much more.

As I spoke with several people attending the meeting, I realized that there's definitely a growing interest in the CME industry among physicians who wish to leave clinical practice. One of the "entry points" into the medical writing industry is the CME needs assessment. How do you generate a really good needs assessment? Well, it depends on the therapeutic area and the types of resources you have at your disposal.

There are many physicians who have established successful careers as medical writers. You need to know how to start and the American Medical Writers Association is a great organization that can help you get started. To learn more about the CME industry, get involved with the Alliance for CME.

Writing learning objectives for CME proposals and activities

Interesting in a career in the CME industry? When's the last time you wrote a needs assessment that included a proposed agenda and a set of proposed learning objectives? Johanna Lackner Marx MPH, MSW from InQuill Medical Communications, LLC has posted a free webinar about writing CME learning objectives. Her presentation is titled, "Writing Educational Objectives to Meet ACCME’s Updated Criteria." She covers some of the recent changes that have impacted the CME industry. You can access the webinar here.

Speaking of medical writing and the medical communications industry, there are many people out there who offer career services to help physicians and scientists "break in" to the medical communication industry. There are so many ways to enter the industry and writing isn't the only way. There are opportunities related to business development, strategic planning, project management, educational design, and collaborative partnerships. Of course, if you enjoy writing, then maybe you'll be happy as a medical writer or medical director. I've been working in this industry for the last 5 years and I've enjoyed it. Contact me if you'd like to learn more about physician careers in medical communications.

How medical writers write CME needs assessments

How medical writers write CME needs assessments is changing... come and let a panel of experts bring you up to speed. The American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) Delaware Valley Chapter is having a dinner meeting on June 17, 2010.

Here's the announcement from the AMWA Delaware Valley Chapter:

Please join us for an AMWA-DVC dinner meeting on Thursday, June 17, 2010, when a panel of distinguished guests from the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education explains how they write needs assessments for CME projects, and what they look for in a good medical writer. Panelists will include representatives from a local medical school, a medical specialty society, a private medical education company, a pharmaceutical company, and a hospital/health system.

Medical writers assigned to write needs assessments today sometimes feel as if they’re aiming at a moving target. Many providers are changing the way they identify needs in response to pressure from grant makers and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. Moreover, recent reductions in commercial funding for CME, attrition among accredited providers, and revised accreditation criteria, all make it essential for medical writers to hone their skills. The panelists will give short presentations on their organizations, and then take questions from the audience.

For more information, visit the AMWA-DVC website.

State Medical Licensure Requirements (for continuing medical education or CME)

The American Medical Association (AMA) has an annual document that outlines the CME requirements for each state. For 2010, you can see that there have not been any significant changes. Sixty-two boards require continuing medical education (CME) for license reregistration (Table 16). Some states also mandate CME content, such as HIV/AIDS, risk management, or end of life palliative care.

What are you doing to stay current on your CME requirements? Are you still paying for CME when so much free CME is readily available online?

To view the 2010 requirements on the AMA website, click here. 

To CME or not to CME - that is the question

The other day, I was speaking with a physician about job opportunities in the CME (continuing medical education) industry. There are fewer jobs in CME compared to 5 or even 3 years ago. Why?

Last year, quite a few medical education companies got out of the CME industry. Some of them simply closed doors and went out of business while others shifted their focus to non-certified education (such as promotional education, consumer health education, etc.).

I know many physicians currently working in the CME industry. They are "CME professionals" and some even have the designation of being a "Certified CME Professional" or CCMEP. 

The CME community is getting smaller each year, so that has its share of advantages and disadvantages. CME will never go away, but the traditional model of industry-supported CME is evolving and it's hard to know what CME will look like in 10 years. The AMA has been pushing for point-of-care (POC) CME and also performance improvement (PI) CME. These are very different from your traditional didactic lectures or clinical case exercises.

I still enjoy the challenges associated with the CME industry, so that's one of the main reasons why I continue to stay in the CME industry. I also have the opportunity to leverage technology to improve education and I find it fascinating to stay current on the latest clinical developments in the world of biomedical research and clinical science. If you enjoy the science of medicine but you're thinking about leaving the world of clinical medicine, the CME industry could be a right fit. However, it's also important to stay adaptable in this ever-changing environment of CME.

More CME jobs on LinkedIn

Are you using social media to look for non-clinical jobs? Here are a few examples of some CME jobs you'll find on LinkedIn:

• Associate Medical Director
• Medical Writer
• Medical Education Manager
• VP, Grant Development
• Medical Directors
• and more

Don't forget to join the "NonClinicalJobs.com" group while you're on LinkedIn.

Medical Director CME

As the month of February comes to a close, I'd like to say that it's been an interesting month blogging about the topic of CME or Continuing Medical Education. Here's another job post from Monster for a CME medical director:

Medical Director CME

Continuing Medical Education (CME) Company that services strategic development and implementation of long-term medical education programs is searching for a Medical Director. The Medical Director is responsible for the development and management of scientific program(s) that fall under his/her responsibility. The Medical Director is a scientific coordinator, interacting internally with Program Directors and externally with Clients, key opinion leaders and faculty.

Responsibilities:

• Lead strategy-planning sessions in-house and with Clients to develop the scientific goals and content of business proposals, and ongoing programs.
• Attends Scientific Meetings and Symposia with the goal of analyzing and identifying potentially influential data from competitors, and it is his/her responsibility to make strategic recommendations for appropriate product positioning based on these analyses.
• Develop publication strategies and to supervise and participate in the generation of all enduring materials required to fulfill the publication program or meeting needs.
• Medical Director is expected to reexamine the scientific programs and publication strategies periodically to make recommendations for modifications as needed based on the evolving market and the upcoming scientific literature.
• Provide scientific guidance, strategic support and assistance in the development of scientific materials required for the elaboration of new business pitches, and to serve as the scientific advisor in new business presentations.

Requirements:

• Medical degree (MD or DO), with five or more years of clinical practice;
• Experience in CME accreditation, certification and credit systems;
• Expertise in performance and quality improvement methodologies in healthcare
• Experience in client consultation with in-depth knowledge of CME, medical practice and healthcare.

http://jobview.monster.com/Medical-Director-CME-Job-78326095.aspx

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.

What happens if you type "CME jobs" into Google?

I did a little experiment today. I typed "CME Jobs" into Google. To my pleasant surprise, NonClinicalJobs.com came up on the first page of Google!

Now, if you type "continuing medical education jobs" into Google, this website appears on the second page of search results. Looks like I have to work on some SEO (search engine optimization) strategies to improve that.  Search engines are dynamic and they are constantly changing. Websites that rank #1 for specific keywords may rank #5 after a few months if they don't maintain SEO.

If you type "cme jobs for physicians" or "continuing medical education jobs for physicians," or then NonClinicalJobs.com comes up on the first page of Google.

I realize that you may not find a CME job while you're visiting this site, but I hope you'll find valuable information about the CME industry and about potential job opportunities that relate to the CME industry.

To view all the articles related to CME, click here.

Writing a CME "needs assessments"

Have you ever written an educational needs assessment for a hospital, a medical education company, or a medical specialty society? In the world of certified continuing medical education or CME, the educational needs assessment is a critical component that is used to justify the need for continuing education on specific topics. Certified CME has to begin with a set of identified educational needs that are based on clinical gaps and root causes. After all, what good is CME if it doesn't address relevant practice gaps?

So, why are we talking about CME needs assessments?  Medical education companies often look for physicians and other writers to assist them with the needs assessment process. For instance, if a company wishes to propose an educational initiative on the topic of new biologic agents used in oncology, they need to come up with a specific needs assessment that identifies clinical gaps that can be bridged with continuing education. You need to generate a proposed list of learning objectives, a program agenda, and a list of references to support your gap analysis. How many different sources of information can you leverage to support the need to educate health care professionals about this topic?


To learn more about non-clinical opportunities in the world of CME, click here to view a list of blog posts related to the topic of "CME."

Physician jobs in the CME industry

Physicians who choose to pursue non-clinical jobs in the CME industry probably find themselves doing one of a few things ranging from business development, content development, project management, to executive leadership. Here are some of the job titles you may see:

• Medical writer
• Grant writer
• Director of medical education
• Medical education manager
• Medical director
• CME director
• Compliance officer
• VP of medical affairs
• Chief medical officer
• President 
• CEO

These are not listed in any particular order, but they should give you an idea of some of the types of opportunities that exist within the CME industry.

Access a list of CME companies at the NAAMECC website

CME companies are all over the United States. There are probably over 100 private companies that focus on developing continuing medical education activities for physicians, pharmacists, nurses, PAs, and NPs. If you're thinking about a career in CME, perhaps you'd like to know if there are any CME companies in your region.

To view a list of active CME companies, I encourage you to visit the list on the North American Association of Medical Education and Communication Companies, Inc., (NAAMECC) website. This is not a comprehensive list of all the medical education and communication companies (MECCs) that are operating today, but it's a good starting place because these companies are probably committed to staying in the CME industry. As you may know, several CME companies dropped out of the industry in 2009. They either shut down or they decided to leave CME and to focus their efforts on non-CME education (also known as promotional education).

Click here to view the list of NAAMECC member companies.

Medical education: certified CME vs. non-certified promotional education

In the world of medical education, there is a huge difference between certified CME vs. non-certified promotional medical education. Are you familiar with the differences? If you're somewhat rusty and you'd like to gain some expertise in this area, I encourage you to enroll and participate in the National Faculty Education Initiative (NFEI). You won't become an expert overnight, but you can consider this a "basics" course that will outline the differences between certified CME and other types of medical education. 

The National Faculty Education Initiative (NFEI) provides online training on the differences between Certified CME and Promotional Activities, as well as a searchable database of medical education faculty who have completed the program.

The Alliance for CME and Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME), in collaboration with the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), and endorsed by AHME, are delighted to announce the launch of the National Faculty Education Initiative (NFEI) that provides online training on the differences between Certified CME and Promotional Activities, as well as a searchable database of medical education faculty who have completed the program.

Click here for more information about the National Faculty Education Initiative (NFEI).

Make sure to read this story about CME

Since I keep separate blogs, I want to draw your attention to a story about CME found here on MedicineandTechnology.com:

2009 Annual Physicians' CME Preferences Survey

If you want to learn more about the CME industry, it's important to stay current on topics like PI-CME, bias, industry support, MECCs, and more.

CME jobs on LinkedIn

If you're looking for a job in the CME industry, you may want to start with LinkedIn. There are several different groups that focus on CME, but one in particular is called "Continuing Medical Education."

Some other groups to consider include:

• Biotech & Pharma Professionals Network
• Continuing Medical Education Buzz Group
• Lifesciences Opportunities in US
• Pharma Connections Worldwide
• Professional Medical / Scientific Writers 

If you're on LinkedIn, make sure to join our NonClinicalJobs.com LinkedIn group found here.