CME facilitates life-long learning among physicians so that their practices reflect the best medical care for their patients, and helps physicians enhance their performance in practice. Industry leaders interviewed for this special look at medical education agree with these goals, as defined by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. The updated standards for commercial support of CME require providers to identify and resolve potential conflicts of interest. The aim is to ensure independence of CME activities and that educational programs are free from commercial interest. While the updated standards require providers to identify CME needs, determine educational objectives, and evaluate the activity, the focus has been primarily on conflict of interest. Now, however, those within the industry agree there is a need to focus on needs assessments and outcomes of those educational efforts, measured against educational objectives. The industry experts interviewed for this Forum by Denise Myshko, managing editor of the VIEWs and PharmaVOICE, say pharmaceutical companies need to consider the outcomes of the educational programs they are supporting, instead of focusing on return on investment. “For education, outcomes improve compliance by providing the objective evidence to demonstrate grants were appropriately used for education that made a difference, rather than ineffective education that could be criticized as entertainment only,” says Mike Saxton, executive director of professional education support at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. “Many of the educational activities the industry currently supports are not very educationally sound and would probably show poor educational outcomes if measured.” Executives from leading companies say pharmaceutical support of CME programs will continue to be critical to ensure providers have up-to-date information about treatment options and therapies. Furthermore, experts say this is a time of opportunity or CME, in which programs will advance to include interactive participation, employ new technologies for deploying educational programs, and increasingly become an integral part of quality improvement within the healthcare system. The industry could lead change in this area by raising the expectations of CME providers and CME programs. A better-educated physician is going to result in a better-treated patient, as well as better outcomes for patients. But to measure the effectiveness of continuing medical education programs, there will need to be a cooperative effort from the many people and organizations involved, including the CME providers, hospitals, academic institutions, board certification organizations, and sponsors. Some believe that one way to evaluate whether a program delivered the appropriate and necessary information would be to link the behavior of physicians to their certification. According to Mr. Saxton, CME will move closer to the point of care. “In the future, when we look back at what’s being done today, we will be amazed at how narrow and limited our view of CME was,” he says. Taren Grom Editor Taren Grom All involved in the CME enterprise — educators, meeting planners, faculty, authors, speakers, accredited providers, supporters, and the physician learners themselves — are responsible for enhancing physicians’ performance in practice. Letter from the Editor August 2005 VIEW on Medical Education

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