Essential Area 2: Educational Planning and
Evaluation
The provider must,
Element 2.1
Use a planning process(es) that links
identified educational needs with a desired result in its provision of
all CME activities.
A systematic planning process helps assure a
more successful learning experience. The traditional starting point is
with needs assessment. The identified needs are translated into goals or
objectives that specify the purpose of an activity. That information is
communicated to faculty in order to ensure that presenters understand
the needs of the audience and will facilitate learning accordingly.
Evaluation allows the planners, faculty, and learners to know if the
objectives were met. While there are many ways to plan an educational
activity, the main purpose of a system is to support development of an
activity that is organized and thorough. The use of a planning sheet is
one way to make certain that all necessary information is summarized on
one form. While not mandated, the planning sheet provides an easy way to
document the evolution of a CME program.
As with all areas of health care, the MMS
encourages continuous improvement of CME activities. The purpose of
using the accreditation application to inquire about improvement of CME
is to support the development of specific suggestions for learning that
will result in better patient care. There may be many ways to improve a
CME program. Some of those improvements may relate to administrative
issues such as better classroom space or updated audio-visual equipment.
Or, improvements may relate more to clinical issues, uncovering needs or
identifying problems using hospital data.
Effective planning links the needs of the
learners and the goals of the faculty to describe what physicians need
to know in order to provide better patient care. Documenting how
activities are planned and implemented clearly shows the way in which an
organization has defined and addressed their own educational needs.
The purpose of asking how educational program
planning takes place is to ensure that providers are planning their
activities to meet the needs of their audience, to link the goal(s) for
activities so that the planners, teachers and learners have the same
goal. Good planning and implementation of educational activities
ultimately contribute to improved patient care.
Next Page: Element 2.2
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