Primary Care: General Internal Medicine and Family Practice
Sites with Multiple Courses
- AAFP Online CME
Presented by: American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Accrediting institution: American Academy of Family Physicians
Release date: Current
Type: webcasts, case presentations, and journal articles
Content: Use this link to access the Acadamy's 125+ hours of online CME offerings, or read descriptions of and access each individually, below. Kudos to the AAFP for freely providing solid content available to everyone, for using straightforward interfaces with splashes of creativity, and for offering CME at a reasonable price.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: see below
Fee: see below; AAFP members obtain CME at discounted price
http://home.aafp.org/cgi-bin/gateway.pl?gateway=CME&list=ou=CME,ou=Online%20CME&frame=right&layout=noframes
Site last visited: May 2001
- AAFP American Family Physician Online CME
Presented by: American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Accrediting institution: American Academy of Family Physicians
Release date: Current issue (biweekly) and preceeding 12 months
Type: Full-text articles with tables and graphics
Content: Online articles and quiz for current issue and those within the past 12 months is identical to journal version. Available to everyone, but only AAFP members can earn CME on line; non-members must submit the journal's CME card.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 3-6.5 per issue
Fee: No cost, but AAFP membership required
URL: home.aafp.org/afp/afpquiz.html
Site last visited: May 2001
- AAFP Family Practice Management Online CME
Presented by: American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Accrediting institution: American Academy of Family Physicians
Release date: Current issue (monthly) and preceeding 12 months
Type: Full-text articles with tables and graphics
Content: Online articles and quiz for current issue and those within the past 12 months are identical to journal version. Available to everyone, but only AAFP members can earn CME online; non-members must submit the journal's CME card.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 3-4 per issue
Fee: No cost, but AAFP membership required
URL: www.aafp.org/fpm/fpmquiz.html
Site last visited: May 2001
- AFP Monographs
Presented by: American Family Physician
Accrediting institution: American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Release date: 2000
Type: Monographs
Content: CME credit for this online version of AAFP's American Family Physician monographs is available only to AAFP members; content is freely available but non-members must use the CME card in the journal. Originally there were two pharmaceutical company-supported monographs, on Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, but both have expired. There is a current monograph on Diagnosis and Management of Depression.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 2 per monograph
Fee: No cost, but AAFP membership required
URL: home.aafp.org/afp/monograph/
Site last visited: May 2001
- AAFP Video CME Program
Presented by: American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Accrediting institution: American Academy of Family Physicians
Release date: 1998-2000
Type: webcast and syllabus
Content: Five professionally-produced streaming videos on topics in mental health and diabetes, with accompanying syllabi in PDF or Web format. Videos are about 30 minutes and are reminiscent of programs on medical television. Syllabus are readable monographs with graphics.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 1 per video
Fee: AAFP members: $8 per hour; nonmembers $10
URL: home.aafp.org/videocme/
Site last visited: May 2001
- AFP Online Clinical Cases
Presented by: American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP)
Accrediting institution: American Academy of Family Physicians
Release date: Every two months
Type: Case studies with interactivity
Content: At present there are seven cases. Less interactive than their ACP-ASIM counterpart described below, (although there is a post-case test for CME credit), but the approach is comparable with a simplier interface. Best of all, they are freely available for viewing. I wished the case I worked through had graphics, such as the actual EKG instead of just a description. The site sponsors an associated bulletin board for AAFP members only.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 0.5 per case
Fee: AAFP members: $5 per half-hour; nonmembers $7
URL: home.aafp.org/afp/cases/
Site last visited: May 2001
- AAFP American Family Physician Online CME
- ACP-ASIM Clinical Problem-Solving Cases
Presented by: American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine
Accrediting institution: American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine
Release date: September 1999 - current (two cases per month)
Type: Patient cases with interactivity and graphics
Content: Read the history and physical exam, then make an initial list of differentials before ordering tests and diagnostic procedures, making a diagnosis, and initiating treatment. I was less impressed with older cases, but the educational quality of these current demos are quite good -- the cases are straightforward but interesting, and the program provides satisfying feedback and narrative explanations (although I disagreed with one of the patient's workup and treatment, and my concerns were not anticipated). There is a clear emphasis on evidence-based medicine. The site maintains a user forum for members only. Practice in review mode before advancing to test mode, at the end of which CME credit is awarded. Unfortunately, the interface is unnecessarily frame-laden, distancing the user from the content and leaving the impression that the cases are more complicated than they are. The introductory information is fine, but the promotion for this product on ACPöASIM's main site is terrible. It's a shame that specialty organizations need such marketspeak when promoting solid, economical educational products to fellow physicians.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 48 hours total (1 per presentation) promised by September 2001
Fee: $75 for access through September 2003
URL: cpsc.acponline.org
Site last visited: June 2001
- ACSM The Physician and Sportsmedicine Online CME
Presented by: McGraw-Hill Healthcare Information
Accrediting institution: American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
Release date: Current issue (monthly) and preceeding 12 months
Type: Full-text articles with tables/graphics
Content: Starting with the May 2000 issue, the journal's quiz is also available on line, along with the relevant articles. Online and print content and quiz are identical, but the online material is posted one month after the journal is mailed. Unlike other McGraw-Hill publications, this quiz and payment can be submitted on line. A special report on Osteoarthritis of the Knee is online here as well, though its CME has just expired.
Approved for: AMA, ACSM CEC, and National Athletic Trainers' Association CEU
Hours: 3-6 per issue
Fee: $20 per issue ($15 to ACSM members)
URL: www.physsportsmed.com/cme.htm
Site last visited: May 2001
- AMA Online CME Courses
Presented by: American Medical Association
Accrediting institution: American Medical Association
Release date: 1997-2001
Type: Monographs, one with snippets of multimedia (osteoporosis)
Comments: Home page links to a new course on Managing Diabetes along with Managing Osteoporosis; it's not clear whether the three other courses -- Managing Osteoarthritis, Managing Migraines Today, and Managing Asthma -- are current for CME. The newer courses employ well credentialed -- and disclosure-rich -- Editorial Boards, and are sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. The diabetes case studies are large files that are downloaded in PDF format, so it'll take a while at 56K speed. In addition to CME, several courses conclude with case studies linked to online discussion forums, though these are generally inactive. It's not awful, but one wishes the AMA -- an organization that promotes itself as a leader in physician CME and credentialing -- could "manage" stronger online CME.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP (osteoporosis and migraine)
Hours: 2 or 3 per course section. Courses vary from 1-3 sections.
Fee: No cost
URL: http://www.ama-assn.org/cmeselec/courses.htm
Site last visited: June 2001
- AMNJ Online CME
Presented by: Academy of Medicine of New Jersey
Accrediting institution: Academy of Medicine of New Jersey
Release date: 1997-1998
Type: Audio and text transcript
Content: Three courses at present: Anticoagulation Therapy for Prevention of Stroke in Atrial Fibrillation, Infection Control, and Advances in Diagnosis and Management of HIV/AIDS. Manually advance through the course with or without audio. No update over the past year and a half, other than the need to register (free).
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1
Fee: No cost
URL: www.acadmed.org/cme/cme.html
Site last visited: May 2001
- Annenberg Center for Health Sciences Online Programs
Presented by: Annenberg Center for Health Sciences
Accrediting institution: Annenberg Center
Release dates: 2000-2001
Type: audio and text
Content: Use the home page's left navigation panel under Online Programs to access two courses: an hour-long audio webcast with accompanying online syllabus on bipolar research, all taken from an audio-teleconference, and a Medscape article on antibiotic resistance. Unfortunately, the three other courses, which I reviewed favorably last year, have expired CME. The Annenberg Center is a public benefits corporation that provides a variety of traditional and new media CME for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health professionals. Although the targeted audience includes non-physicians, these programs are appropriate for primary care physicians.
Approved for: AMA PRA, AAFP, AAPA, ACPE, ANE
Hours: 1 per program
Fee: No cost
URL: www.annenberg.net/
Site last visited: May 2001
- ArcMesa Educators -- Physician Courses
Presented by: ArcMesa Educators
Accrediting institution: ArcMesa Educators
Release dates: 1998-2001 (current)
Type: Monographs
Content: offers what has to be the easiest CME in any media. If you're looking for a 3-credit-hour CME quiz that starts off asking which heart chamber pumps blood to the lungs, this is the site for you. After a painless registration process, physicians access a page listing the 80-odd text-based articles. Content is freely available. The basics are covered÷the interface is fine, site programming seems solid, articles appear in both HTML and PDF format, and there is a toll-free number available for questions and problems. Authors are usually physicians who write content specifically for AME, and their biographies are on line. Topics are very primary care, including practice management. Although ACCME-approved for physicians, most articles read as if written for allied healthcare professionals.
Approved for: AMA, Florida (domestic violence)
Hours: 1-10 per course
Fee: $27-$79 per course
URL: www.arcmesa.com/cont_ed/main.jhtml?P_ID=9
Site last visited: June 2001
- Baylor Online CME Courses
Presented by: Baylor College of Medicine
Accrediting institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Release date: 2001
Type: video webcasts or audio slide shows with transcripts of symposiums
Content: Registration (free) is required to access Baylor's Online CME home page. Nineteen courses, most with multiple presentations, in Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Surgery, Women's Health, and Analgesic Therapy. All but one are multimedia presentations from live symposiums associated with Baylor with unrestricted grants from pharmaceutical companies. This site has grown substantially since first reviewed a year ago.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1-4 per course
Fee: No cost
URL: http://www.baylorcme.org
Site last visited: June 2001
- Beam Institute CME Programs
Presented by: SCP Communications
Accrediting institution: Beam Institute for CME
Release date:
Type: articles
Content: Free registration to physicians who provide their licensing information (server is not secured). Four articles in PDF format freely available, but only members can take the CME test for credit. Site features include CME Profile, and CME requirements listed by state.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 2-2.5 per article
Fee: No cost
URL: http://www.beaminstitute.com/direct.asp?page=about
Site last visited: June 2001
- CDC Continuing Education Activity
Presented by: CDC Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Report
Accrediting institution: Centers for Disease Control
Release date: 1999-2001(current)
Type: Monographs
Content: Continuing education for physicians, nurses, and others on thirteen Mortality and Morbidity Weekly Reports publications. Two hours of free CME per article are available on flouride use and dental caries, surveillance systems, rubella, occupational exposure to hepatitis and AIDS, small pox vaccine, transmission of infections in chronic dialysis patients, tuberculosis, influenza, foodborne illnesses, use of anthrax vaccine, opportunistic infections among bone marrow transplant patients, and pneumococcal disease in pediatrics. Downloading (PDF format only) may take a few minutes, since each publication contains dozens of pages. Registration is required prior to taking a CME quiz. Course list.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 2 per report
Fee: No cost
URL: mmwr.cdc.gov/internetcet/cetapp.asp
Site last visited: August 2001
- Cleveland Clinic Journal Of Medicine Online CME
Presented by: Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
Accrediting institution: Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Release date: 1998 - 2001
Type: Full-text articles
Content: Twenty-two courses for primary care practitioners, in Psychiatry in Primary Care, General Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Pulmonary, Gastroenterology, Cardiology, Women's Health, Neurology, Heme-Onc, and Infectious Diseases. Courses begin with a case, pretest, and a short anonymous survey -- submission of which is sometimes the only entry into the full-text article and CME quiz.
(Visit Cleveland Clinic Center for Continuing Education: Online CME for more online CME from this institution. This home site is divided into 16 sections: Board Simulations, Cardiovascular, Critical Care, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, General Medical Topics, Hematology, Infectious Diseases, Nephrology, Neurology, Oncology, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, Pulmonary, Rheumatology, and Women's Health. All Journal Online CME courses as described above are here, but the majority immediately link to the costly HealthStream. In addition, this site includes a free pharmaceutical company-supported courses in Gastroenterology, the 3 credit hour Diagnosis and Practical Management of GERD, and free medical device-supported course in Deep Brain Stimulation and Parkinson's Disease, for 1.5 credit hours.)
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per course
Fee: CCJOM's CME is free; I am told the new submission forms will no longer request $8 per course
URL: www.clevelandclinicmeded.com/ccjmcme/
Site last visited: May 2001
- CMEacademy.com Online CME
Presented by: CMEacademy.com
Accrediting institution: Academy for Healthcare Education
Release date: 2000-2001(current)
Type: slide show with transcript and optional audio
Content: The eleven presentations are clearly not taken from live presentations, but presented by professional narrators. Whether the "faculty" stated in the introduction actually wrote the content is not specificed. At least some of the courses are shared with cmecenter.com, described below. Content is typical primary care fare, on hypertension, diabetes, atherosclerotic disease, depression/anxiety, and erectile dysfunction. Technically the site is impressive. Although slides must be advanced manually, downloading between slides is quick and the table of contents links to all slides, for easy navigation. Audio is optional, as the narrative is written below each slide. All presentations are supported with unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1-2 per presentation
Fee: No cost
URL: www.cmeacademy.com/Main/Courses/courseListingMain.cfm?cfid=1077&cftoken=6129540
Site last visited: June 2001
- cmecenter.com
Presented by: Pfizer
Accrediting institution: Center for Health Care Education
Release date: unknown (current)
Type: audio slide show and case studies
Content: At least some of the courses are shared with CMEacademy.com, described above. Site not yet reviewed.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 2 per presentation
Fee: No cost
URL: http://www.cmecenter.com/html/default.asp
Site last visited: June 2001
- cmecorner.com Online CME
Presented by: cmecorner.com
Accrediting institution: Emory, Rush,
Release date: 1999-2001
Type: slide show with audio
Content: Another site with a professionally narrated slide show. Four primary care presentations on insomnia, hypertension, GERD, and depression/anxiety. Each program has four components: the manually advanced slide show, a handful of case studies, references, and post-CME test. All presentations are supported with unrestricted educational grants from pharmaceutical companies, who get their payback by including only their products in the case studies.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 2 per presentation
Fee: No cost
URL: http://cmecorner.com/Online/1frame.htm
Site last visited: June 2001
- cmecourses.com
Presented by: HealthStream
Accrediting institution: Various
Release date: Various (current)
Type: Audio slide shows and text-based articles with occassional graphics and interactivity
Content: HealthStream is a NASDAQ-traded company, which in today's dot.com world says a lot. Previously under our Multispecialty heading, HealthStream's cmecourses.com has recently shifted its content emphasis and is, I am told, "...now exclusively focused on CMEs for primary care physicians. Rather than horizontally focusing on all medical areas to varying degrees, our service offering for primary care will now be narrow and deep." The company has partnered with a number of other highly visible healthcare companies, so its name if not content is likely to be familiar to many physicians.
The site has changed significantly since last visited over a year ago. Gone is the extensive catalog of Challenger courses, which leaves Cleveland Clinic Online CME as the primary clinical content provider. These offerings are listed under Internal Medicine and Family Practice (neurology), although the original site (described above) arguably does a better job of categorizing its course offerings, including free courses and CME from other sections of The Cleveland Clinic. The sample course showcased here is a manually-controlled slide show with transcript and an optional audio, obviously taken from a live presentation. Content seems solid, but by present technology standards this lecture is unusually slow loading between pages, and I wonder whether the error on page three where the transcript ends in mid-sentence is typical.
The Cleveland Clinic Foundation (CCF) Internal Medicine Board Review is a group of 61 one-hour presentations. The one-year subscription price is $775 and includes the cost of CME. Presumably, this series is an updated version of the 1996 CCF Eighth Intensive Review of Internal Medicine CD-ROM reviewed available elsewhere on this site.
New academic and commercial partners provide the rest of the CME content. These include one clinical and a group of risk mangement articles for emergency physicians, and articles on medical ethics and risk management. Also, Scripps Clinic offers a seven part series on Melanoma. Content sampled from a handful of courses was solid and geared towards physicians looking for a basic, readable review. HealthStream also offers CME through WebEvents several times a year, live and archived, which are usually freely available. Note that all embyology/fetal development and materal problems/changes during pregnancy courses under OB-Gyn, and the two intervential cardiology courses listed under Radiology, are intended for radiology technologists. Cleveland Clinic courses require payment up front, but many others can be freely viewed and several Web events offer free CME as well.
Healthstream now maintains the Core Curriculum of Primary Care, an organization that sponsors a Boston-based live lecture series upon which a CD-ROM and this online CME program is based. All lecturers are faculty members at one of four Massachusetts medical schools. The series can be ordered as online courses or as CDs off the home page, or by using the search term "HCC". WebMD also provides a direct link to this group of courses. Format is similiar to Cleveland Clinic presentations as described above.
The site tracks CME progress, allows for automatic bookmarking, and provides live technical support. HealthStream's T.Nav system is slow-loading and mouse-intensive, but it has a nice Help section. I'm told that "...Harness, a newer technology in which current courses are being built, is faster and will automatically move slides. It also has transcripts, search functionality, and other features..." Unfortunately, the site has an unusually high number of programming bugs, and the registration process requests license and credit card information over an unsecured server.
Registrants at Medsite University, reviewed below, can link directly to HealthStream.com.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1-3 per course
Fee: $25 per hour, $35 for two hours (Cleveland Clinic), others $10-20 per hour. Internal Medicine Board Review is $775 dollars for 61 hours.
URL: http://www.cmecourses.com/
Site last visited: May 2001
- CME-CE.COM
Presented by: Cogent Interactive Communications and Strategic Implications International
Accrediting institution: Strategic Institute for Continuing Health Care Education
Release dates: 2000-2001 (current)
Type: audio slide shows
Content: Two courses are available, on cardiovascular risks and diabetes, and management of hypertension. Since last reviewed, the site is much improved and the audio slide shows, though advanced manually, allow for navigation through the presentation. Developed by BLP Group Companies, who "provide(s) companies in the healthcare industry with a range of outsourced educational, promotional marketing services."
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per course
Fee: No cost
URL: www.cme-ce.com
Site last visited: September 2001
- CME, Inc. Distance Learning
Presented by: CME, Inc
Accrediting institution: CME, Inc.
Release date: various
Type: full-text articles
Content: From this page, a collection of free online newsletter articles and features from Psychiatric Times and Geriatric Times primarily for mental health and primary care practitioners, respectively. See too the site immediately below, for fee-based online CME from the same company.
Approved for: AMA
Hours:
Fee: No cost
URL: http://www.mhsource.com/cme/online.html
Site last visited: September 2001
- CME InfoStore: Online Courses
Presented by: CME InfoStore
Accrediting institution: CME, Inc.
Release date: Unknown
Type: Case presentations with interactivity (Clinical Puzzles), slide show with streaming audio (Geriatric Congress, Psychiatric Congress Online)
Content: Three offerings at this time, none accessible without payment: (1) Clinical Puzzles Online ("Solve clinical challenges as your earn credit with the interactive version of the popular Psychiatric Times column Clinical Puzzles, written by Ronald Pies, M.D. Each article includes a case study, interactive post-test and an online bulletin board for discussion of the topics."); (2) Geriatric Congress Online, which is divided into Medical and Mental Health modules, each comprised of eight sessions. ("Using streaming audio and colorful slides, this course will provide you with a broad understanding of the growing elderly population and offer you the most practical treatments....Register for the complete course and get a free bonus session: Practical Implications for Long Term Care Providers."); and (3) Psychiatric Congress Online, divided into bipolar disorder, borderline PD, OCD, and transference. Access to the last two programs is password-protected; the password is theoretically e-mailed immediately after payment received, but the company couldn't verify this.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1.5 per module, total 18 (Clinical Puzzles); 1.25 per session, total 21.25 (Geriatric Congress) or total 5 (Psychiatric Congress Online)
Fee: $25 per module, total $250 (Clinical Puzzles) or $100 (Psychiatric Congress Online); $20 per session, $150 per module, total $300 (Geriatric Congress)
URL: www.cmeinfostore.com/cmeinc/mental-health-mental-health-online-courses.html
Site last visited: September 2001
- CME Interactive
Presented by: CME Interactive, Inc.
Accrediting institution: University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston
Release date: 1999
Type: Slide show with audio
Content: At present, courses on obsessive-compulsive disorder, colorectal cancer, erectile dysfunction, diabetes and hypertension. Look at the left side of each course description screen for access to content. Presentations are formatted for either Shockware or RealPlayer software, both of which are freely available and seem to work fine here, although downloading time feels excessive compared to other sites. Note that there's no way to advance or go back through portions of the presentation; in fact, the site instructs, "You must complete the course material from beginning to end. If you leave before completing the material, you may start it over again when you return, or pick up where you left off. You can return later to complete the self assessment and evaluation." (One way around this is to use RealPlayer's slide control.) CME Interactive, Inc., is a private company dedicated to Internet-based CME. Note that these courses can also be accessed indirectly via UTMB's Online CME Courses, along with a free pharmaceutical company-supported course on overactive bladder, which is described under our Urology section.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per course
Fee: No cost
URL: www.cmeinteractive.com
Site last visited: 1/00
- CME WebCredits
Presented by: Health Communications Research Institute (HCRI)
Accrediting institution: Health Communications Research Institute (California State University, Sacramento)
Release date: 1998-1999
Type: Slide show with audio
Content: Use the left navigation panel to access CME. The flashing CME Course Online includes four slide shows on cost-effective management of diabetes and enhancing patient compliance, satisfaction and member retention. Content are presented by academic physicians and sponsored by pharmaceutical companies. The interface downloads audio between slides, but seems to work fine. Since the site was last reviewed, CME is now freely available and users are provided with somewhat more technical information and help, but no new content has been completed, updated or added. I am told content will be updated and expanded this summer, to include CME for their presently mistitled Online Video CME Short Courses webcasts. Unlike other sites, HCRI doesn't disclose potential conflicts of interest on line, choosing instead to keep them "on file" at UC Davis, its former accrediting institution.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 21 (patient management)
Fee: no cost
URL: www.cme-webcredits.org/index.html
Site last visited: June 2001
- Current CME Reviews
Presented by: Medical Broadcast Division of MBL Communications
Accrediting institution: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Release date: 2000-2001 (current)
Type: Full-text articles
Content: Select CME Reviews from home page. Dozens of articles for psychiatrists, neurologists, and primary care physicians from CNS Spectrums and Primary Psychiatry, two monthly journals. Content is freely available, but CME is available only to registered users, which requires credit card information. Present courses (each comprised of several one credit hour articles): anxiety, new perspectives in neuropsych, bipolar, feminine specific mood disorders, anti-social PD, neuroscience and developmental psychopathology, surgery for psych disorders, anxiety-psychosis spectrum, emotions and feelings, and catatonia. Content is scholarly and well-referenced.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per article
Fee: $5 per credit hour
URL: www.cme-reviews.com/
Site last visited: June 2001
- EduNet
Presented by: MNI Systems Corporation (Canada)
Accrediting institution: McMaster University
Release date: 1997
Type: slide show with transcript (no audio)
Content: The practice-oriented nature of the CME is emphasized by the course titles: "It's embarrassing to tell you, doctor, but I'm soiling my pants," "These pills you gave me are great for my joints, but I think I have an ulcer now," "My heartburn is OK as long as I stay on these pills. What else can I do?" and "Doc, what will you do for my indigestion. Is it due to a bug?" On last review, a CGI script bug prevented me from accessing the courses, but on revisit I had no such difficulty. Unfortunately, no new courses has been added, and the site itself does not appear to have been updated. Courses are dated by Web standards, but presumably still eligible for CME. Special features include taking notes by typing in or highlighting portions of a slide with the notes sent back as an e-mail message, quick comparison of one's answers with other healthcare professionals, and a Progress Report that keeps track of portions viewed and yet to be viewed. Quiz and payment can be submitted electronically or via surface mail.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per course
Fee: $15 per course
URL: www.edunetprograms.com/edunet.htm
Site last visited: September 2001
- Family Medicine Review II
Presented by: University of Arizona College of Medicine
Accrediting institution: University of Arizona
Release date: March 1999
Type: Multiple choice questions
Content: This is a straightforward board-type Q&As to help prepare for Family Medicine Boards certification and recertification. Free registration is necessary to access both content and CME. Self-Test is the CME component, where 25 questions are randomly selected and no more than two can be answered incorrectly to receive credit. If you fail and retake the test, a different set of questions is presented. Supported by an educational grant from a pharmaceutical company.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 10
Fee: $75
URL: www.familymedicinereview.com/
Site last visited: June 2001
- FamilyPractice.com Interactive Learning Center
Presented by: American Board of Family Practice and Kurzweil Technologies
Accrediting institution:
Release date:
Type:
Content: Two couses: ABFP In-Training Exam Questions, and FP Virtual Lecture -- one online, on geriatric agitation. ing Company is a joint venture of ABFP and Kurzweil Technologies. Not reviewed yet.
Approved for: AMA
Hours:
Fee: No cost
URL: www.familypractice.com/centers/learning_center/learning_center.htm
Site last visited: June 2001
- FDA MedWatch
Presented by: Food and Drug Administration
Accrediting institution: NIH/FAES
Release date: 1998
Type: text-based article
Content: MedWatch has one article still offering current CME: Post-marketing Surveillance for Adverse Events After Vaccination: The National Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). This six-page article and quiz is downloaded in PDF format. The quiz may also be submitted on line, through October 2001.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1
Fee: No cost
URL: www.fda.gov/medwatch/articles.htm
Site last visited: August 2001
- HealthAnswersCE.com CME
Presented by: HealthAnswers.com
Accrediting institution: FCG Institute for Continuing Education
Release date: 2001
Type: slide show with transcript (no audio)
Content: Two groups of presentations, on osteoporosis and asthma. Slides can be downloaded individually or as a group. Both are supported by unrestricted grants from a pharmaceutical company, and all faculty have disclosed a relationships with this company (among others). The specific osteoporosis medication presented most strongly happens to be manufactured by the same drug company.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 4 (osteroporosis), 5 (respiratory)
Fee: No cost
URL: www.healthanswersce.com
Site last visited: September 2001
- Helix Continuing Medical Education
Presented by: Glaxo Wellcome Inc.
Accrediting institution: See primary sources
Release date: See primary sources
Type: See primary sources
Content: At present the only in-house offering for physicians is the 1 credit hour Update in Nicotine Addition Therapies, which is described in this section under Single Courses. External links are not well maintained as some are expired and others are non-physician CE. And not all content is online. But all courses, and more, can be found in HIVLine CME, Primary Care Medical Education, Medical Education: Bridging the Gap Through Distance Learning, University of Michigan Online CME, Family Medicine Review II, and Meniscus Limited. Helix is also affiliated with GWU's excellent Frontiers in Biomedicine and Frontiers in Clinical Genetics. All these external sites are described elsewhere in this section except for the last two, which appear under our Multispecialties and Genetics section, respectively. The unifying theme behind this list of external CME offerings is Glaxo Wellcome's financial support, in addition to their generally good quality and (with the exception of Family Medicine Review and the GWU Frontier series) no charge.
Approved for: See primary sources
Hours: See primary sources
Fee: See primary sources
URL: www.helix.com/helix/coned/medical/medical.htm
Site last visited: May 2001
- InfoMed
Presented by: Medical Education Group Learning Systems (MEGLS)
Accrediting institution: MEGLS
Release date: 1998-2000
Type: Full-text articles
Content: Grouped according to Florida and Texas state requirements, and OSHA requirements, but the content and (it appears) the CME are available to all physicians. Courses: 1999-2000 updates on bloodborne pathogens and HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and risk management. The authorship of some of the content isn't obvious. On revisit, the site has been redesigned but now only two states participate. Site maintains records of past credits, and allows for electronic transactions.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1-3 per article
Fee: Different payment grid for each group of articles, from $20 for first credit hour up to $75 for 5 credit hours.
URL: http://www.megls.cme.edu
Site last visited: September 2001
- IPMA Hospital Practice
Presented by: McGraw-Hill Healthcare Information
Accrediting institution: The Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association
Release date: Current issue (monthly) and preceeding 12 months
Type: Full-text articles with tables/graphics
Content: Quiz is posted on line concurrent with the mailing of the print journal, but posting the articles on line is delayed several weeks. Online and journal content and quiz are identical. Quiz cannot be submitted on line; it needs to be printed out, completed, then mailed along with payment. On revisit, Hospital Practice has unfortunately suspended its CME offerings. There is still 6 months of current CME available but unless resumed, the feature will end after December 2001.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 3 per issue
Fee: $20 per issue
URL: www.hosppract.com/cme.htm
Site last visited: May 2001
- IPMA Postgraduate Medicine
Presented by: McGraw-Hill Healthcare Information
Accrediting institution: The Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association
Release date: Current issue (monthly) and preceeding 12 months
Type: Full-text articles with tables/graphics
Content: Quiz is posted on line concurrent with the mailing of the print journal, but posting the articles on line is delayed several weeks. Online and journal content and quiz are identical. On revisit, quizzes can now be submitted on line.
Approved for: AMA, AAFP
Hours: 4-7 per issue
Fee: $20 per issue (a better deal than the print journal version!)
URL: www.hosppract.com/cme.htm
Site last visited: May 2001
- JHU CME Online
Presented by: Johns Hopkins Office of Continuing Education
Accrediting institution: Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Release date: August 1999
Type: audio slide shows, slide presentations
Content: JHU no longer offers its wonderful Saturday Morning Rounds and Conjoint Clinic via webcast. Instead, JHU has a list of courses on fibrinolysis therapy, gram positive sepsis, bone turnover, acid suppression, osteoporosis, and wound management. All are supported by pharmaceutical companies.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per course
Fee: no cost
URL: www.med.jhu.edu/cme/
Site last visited: May 2001
- Journal of Clinical Outcomes Management
Presented by: Turner-White Communications
Accrediting institution:
Release date: 2000-2001 (monthly)
Type: articles
Content: Monthly articles in PDF format from this "peer-reviewed journal dedicated to helping physicians and managed care decision makers improve outcomes of care." Not yet reviewed
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per article
Fee: No cost
URL: www.turner-white.com/cme01.htm
Site last visited: June 2001
- Knowledge Linc: Physician Courses
Presented by: Knowledge Linc
Accrediting institution: CME, Inc.
Release date: Unknown
Type: Audio/transcript and slides
Content: This site continues accesses a portion of CME, Inc.'s MHi Continuing Education -- specifically, the four courses from their Practical Psychopharmacology conference. Payment required before accessing content. Although not accessible from this site, Knowledge Linc also hosts American College of Occupational and Environmental Online Seminar. Both are listed separately under our Neurology & Psychiatry and Occupational & Environmental Medicine sections. Knowledge Linc has online educational offerings for other healthcare professionals.
Approved for: AMA, ACPE (pharmacists), psychologists, nurses, and social workers
Hours: 4 per course
Fee: $129 per course
URL: www.knowledgelinc.com/cme/cmecal.html
Site last visited: September 2001
- MCP Hahnemann CME
Presented by: MCP Hahnemann University Continuing Medical Education
Accrediting institution: MCP Hahnemann School of Medicine
Release date: Winter 1993 - Winter 1999 (monographs), 1999-2001 (webcasts)
Type: Monographs (no graphics) and webcasts
Content: Two resources available off the CME home page. First, click on Virtual Grand Rounds, a series of video webcasts: (1) 39 Primary Care Grand Rounds, archives of live presentations in Asthma, Cardiovascular Disease, Stroke, Diabetes, GI, HIV/AIDS, Hypertension, Infectious Diseases, Lipid Disorders, Managed Care, Osteoporosis, Pneumonia, and Pulmonary Diseases (2) 10 presentations on angiotension blocking and sympathetic common mechanisms in the management of hypertension, heart failure, thrombosis, and renal failure, sponsored by a pharmaceutical company. Not all presentations are eligible for CME (check the Accreditation box on top of the left navigation panel), and the webcast needs to be manually advanced from slide to slide, using a menu on the left navigation panel. The Grand Rounds series looks solid from a content perspective.
Second, click on CME Links to access Hahnemann's The Medical Monograph Series. On revisit, the site is identical, listing all 12 monographs, on NSAIDS and COX-2 inhibitors, antithrombic therapy, hypertension management, outpatient management of HIV, H. pylori, rhabdomyolysis, nuclear cardiac imagining, stress echocardiography in clinical practice, immunophysiology and epidemiology of asthma, cardiac rupture, ocular manifestations of rheumatic disease, and pathogenesis and diagnosis of aortic dissection. Content is well referenced and academic in tone; the CME test is straightforward and allows for review prior to submitting answers. Unfortunately there is no online payment, although the quiz can be submitted electronically.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1.5 per monograph or presentation
Fee: $15 per monograph, no information on fees for webcasts available
URL: http://webcampus.med.mcphu.edu/cme/cme_home.html
Site last visited: June 2001
- MediCom Online Courses
Presented by: MediCom
Accrediting institution: Institute of Continuing Healthcare Education and University of Wisconsin (stroke)
Release date: 1998
Type: Slide show/audio with text available for downloading
Content: Three courses on acute management of psychosis, longterm use of antipsychotic agents, and stroke prevention. Intended audience is clearly primary care practitioners rather than specialists. Accrediting information and content can be accessed only after (free) registration. CME quiz is submitted electronically. MediCom of Princeton, Inc., is a medical communications company specializing in continuing education media for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses.
Approved for: AMA, ACPE, CNE
Hours: 1-1.5 per program
Fee: No cost
URL: medicaled.com/courses/index_online.cfm?id=all
Site last visited: 1/00
- Meniscus CE for Physicians
Presented by: Meniscus Limited
Accrediting institution: Meniscus Educational Institute
Release date: 2001
Type: Monograph
Content: Offerings include five CExpress courses in breast and colorectal cancer, and online monographs on HIV therapy and dry powder inhalations. Meniscus also includes CE courses for nurses and other health professionals. Supported by Glaxo Wellcome.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1
Fee: No cost
URL: www.meniscus.com/Glaxo/
Site last visited: May 2001
- MSSM Interactive Medical Education
Presented by: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Accrediting institution: Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Release date: ? (current)
Type: video (AIDS); slide shows with video and/or audio; monograph (HRT)
Content: MSSM generously provides free content of reasonable quality and free CME, but I hope it rethinks how it presents its content online. Weak site programming and confusing instructions mar what might well be good content and offerings. Check out Video Archives for two CME presentations buried somewhere within AIDS/Community Medicine (every Monday there is a live AIDS webcast, which are archived here); CME is available for the dozen or so presentations under Complex Coronary Cases, National MS Teleconference, Colorectal Cancer Treatment Studies, and Urology/Sexual Health; HRT also offers online CME, but requires separate (free) registration. No CME is available under Minimally Invasive Surgery Center or Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium, though it is planned. Technology works fine, but elsewhere on the site navigation is not intuitive and programming bugs have been reported to the site. The site designers use pop-up windows unnecessarily, and at least some of the webcasts have an distracting blinking sponsor banner while the course is in progress.
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 2 (AIDS); 4 (MS); 2 (Colorectal CA); 2 (Coronary); 2 (HRT)
Fee: No cost
URL: www.mssmtv.org
Site last visited: June 2001
- NIH Consensus Development Program CME Review
Presented by: NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research
Accrediting institution: National Institutes of Health
Release date: 2001
Type: Full-text articles
Content: Offering free CME credit for reading any of a dozen statements is a clever way to attract physicians. Statements can be read online or downloaded in PDF format; following each statement is a multiple-choice CME quiz that must be completed with a score of 70% or greater (hint: have a printout of the statement by your side as you take the online quiz). All these detailed and well referenced statements are primarily although not exclusively of interest to primary care practitioners: adjuvant therapy for breast cancer, PKU, antenatal corticostroids, osteoporosis, HIV risk behavior interventions, genetic testing for CF, acupuncture, rehab for traumatic brain injury, and diagnosis and treatment of ADHD. Be certain to check the CME Introduction to confirm credits are still current. From its Web page: "The NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research (OMAR) manages the NIH Consensus Development Program, the premier health technology assessment and transfer program in American medicine. Under this program, OMAR organizes major conferences that produce consensus statements and technology assessment statements on controversial issues in medicine important to health care providers, patients, and the general public."
Approved for: AMA
Hours: 1 per statement
Fee: No cost
URL: odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cme/cme.htm
Site last visited: May 2001
- PA Journal CME
Presented by: Physician Assistant Journal
Accrediting institution: University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Release date: 1999-2000 (monthly)
Type: text articles
Content: Articles written by and for physician assistants, for which physicians can receive CME credit as well. Articles are well-referenced reviews of core primary care topics. Ten question CME test, and registration information, is submitted online.
Approved for: AMA, AAPA
Hours: 1 per article
Fee: $10 per article
URL: http://www.pajournal.com/pajournal/cme/
Site last visited: 4/00
- Pragmation Online CME
Presented by: CE City
