AAMC: CME Report from Bermuda to Monaco – More from the Ivory Tower

Bermuda                    Monaco                        Ivory Tower

As part of the Macy Foundation’s efforts to legitimize their Bermuda report, they have given the AAMC a grant of approximately $300,000 to host a conference at the Hotel Monaco in Alexandria, Virginia (February 9-10).

The conference will be: “Promoting Lifelong Learning in Medicine and Nursing: From Research to Practice: A Consensus Conference jointly sponsored by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the Association of American Medical Colleges.”

An earlier conference held under the auspices of the Macy Foundation (Macy Report — The World is Flat) in November of 2007, has led to the development of this initiative.

This earlier ”Macy Report,” a summary of which can be accessed at Macy Report — Fill in the Blanks offered a large number of recommendations but could not fully address the means to implement them.

This follow-up initiative, hosted by the AAMC and the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN), focuses on the delivery and format of continuing education (perhaps this time, their report will not be a subliminal message “point of care, point of care”) and the development of lifelong learning skills in health professionals.

The goals of the proposal are to:

• Develop and refine specific, actionable recommendations in continuing education (I wonder what they consider unactionable);
• Outline barriers and facilitators for a lifelong, integrative continuing education model and its implementation (what would you bet the facilitators work for the Academic Medical Center?); and
• Outline organizational and logistical strategies (Hire Your Local Academic  Medical Center) to ensure the implementation of the recommendations.

The AAMC/AACN proposal includes three phases:

• In Phase 1, November 2008 – February 2009, a literature review will be conducted, enabled by two parallel but integrated search strategies in medicine and nursing.

This activity will be enriched by input from small advisory groups, both internal and external, to our associations (Friends only).  Based upon this review, draft recommendations for consideration by an expert panel will be posted or disseminated prior to the February meeting (it is January 20^th, I guess they mean immediately prior or after…).

• Phase 2– an invitational expert panel meeting to be held February 9-10, 2009, in Alexandria,Va. (Hotel Monico) This conference is by invitation only (only one perspective please), although its deliberations, early and refined recommendations will be available publicly (let us hope on a more timely basis than the conference).
• Phase 3, February to July 2009, will include the creation and distribution of a final report (what do you bet it reads close to the Macy Report.  Any takers?), the development of funding proposals and other implementation strategies and recommendations.

The AAMC has included a generic agenda which from first reading could be mistaken for the agenda for the local Farmers’ Union meeting.

The Macy report was not without its detractors, including the heads of the major accrediting bodies – see, Macy Conference – Missed Opportunity.  We see the Macy Conference as a missed opportunity. 

Let us hope the AAMC report, along with the Institute of Medicine, will be closer to a balanced report than what we have seen come from Macy, thus far.