The new IOM report entitled “Redesigning continuing education in the health professions” was recently released. There are 5 broad messages in the report (my brief thoughts in italics):
- There are major flaws in the way CE is conducted, financed, regulated and evaluated and as a result the health care workforce is not optimally prepared to provide the highest quality of care to patient or to meet public expectations for quality and safety. It may be that this focus at quality and safety is too narrow for CE.
- The science underpinning CE for health professionals is fragmented and underdeveloped. These shortcomings make it difficult to identify effective educational methods and to integrate those methods into programs that meet the needs of a diverse range of health professionals. Clearly, funding for research in medical education is sorely needed.
- CE efforts should bring health professionals from various disciplines together to carefully tailored learning environments. Given the importance of team training on effectiveness and efficiency of care, these interprofessional efforts will improve collaboration and communication with a common goal of improved outcomes. Not all aspects of care will benefit from interprofessional education, but clearly a broader view of how to impact patient outcomes through team is needed.
- A new comprehensive vision of professional education is needed to replace the culture that now envelopes CE in health care. This vision will help focus at efforts at individuals developing skills for and a consistent practice of lifelong learning. A community of learning organizations might be able to better position CE for the future.
- Establishing a national interprofessional CE institute is a promising way to foster improvements in CE for health professionals. The report proposes the formation of a public-private institute and calls on the government through the Secretary of DHHS to initiate the planning for such an institute. An interesting idea for which the devil will be in the details.
The full report is available via download from the IOM website at www.nap.edu
Tags: Continuing Education, Health Profession, IOM
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