The Office of CME&PD
Inspiring excellence in continuing professional education, practice and research.
A MESSAGE FROM THE ASSOCIATE DEAN
COVID-19 has dramatically changed all of our lives, including how we here at Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development (CME&PD) at the Cumming School of Medicine provide you with Continuing Professional Development (CPD). However, never before has our profession needed CPD more than it does right now. I am very grateful to all who have volunteered your time as speakers, panelists, moderators and planning committee members for our accredited CPD programming. At such an incredibly busy and stressful time, thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty, to help us ensure your colleagues are receiving the most up-to-date and trusted information.
Keeping you safe with CPD
Shortly after the WHO declared the pandemic, our office worked with members of the Department of Medicine (DoM) to develop an online Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) course, and with the ATSSL to run simulation scenarios for 227 physicians who were heading to the front-lines. As of December 3, more than 1,400 healthcare workers have completed this online course, which we recognized with the CME&PD Innovation Award in 2020.
PLP Co-Creating Tools for Care
Beginning last year the Physician Learning Program (PLP) team began using the ZOOM™ platform, as we planned to spread and scale our Calgary Audit and Feedback Framework into the online environment. When the pandemic forced us to lock down, we leveraged this expertise to rapidly shift CME&PD to working and learning in the online environment. PLP’s expertise in human-centred design also helped us co-create more than a dozen tools for care to support our front-line workers. For example, we recently partnered with the DoM to update the medical management of the COVID-19 Inpatient Infographic, to help those volunteering for the COVID wards during the second wave.
Expanding our reach
Our move to a completely virtual platform has been challenging, but it has also allowed us greater reach. In the spring, when we transitioned our Rural Virtual Conference Series from telehealth at AHS facilities into the online environment we saw a dramatic increase in attendance. This included a doubling of communities reached and increased uptake by other healthcare professionals. Just as the pandemic forced a rapid adoption of virtual care, it is likely to change the way we deliver CPD in the years to come. This will ensure that we can equally support our colleagues working in urban and rural Alberta.
COVID Corner: A source of trusted information
Our flagship offering during this past year has been our COVID CORNER series on Wednesday evenings. During these 19 webinars, 108 presenters (THANK YOU) have shared the latest information on COVID-19 with more than 11,000 participants! That is about two and a half times our usual annual registrations for our office, where typically 4,500 registrants attend 40-50 conferences and courses during the entire year.
To be able to do this, I would like to thank the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA), Alberta Health Services (AHS), Calgary Health Foundation and Rural Health Professionals Action Plan (RhPAP) for their support, and all of the individual donors who stepped up to support this programming with personal donations.
Thank you to my amazing team
Finally, to my staff at CME&PD and the PLP, I want to say how incredibly honoured I am to lead such a talented and dedicated team. Your efforts to support our healthcare workers during the pandemic has been heroic in itself. When thinking about how to express my gratitude to the team, I felt it was best to do it in verse. During a year when there have been way too many tears, I hope this music video brings a smile to your face.
Click below to watch the COVID Show!
Kelly Burak
Final thoughts
For many of us this past year has been the toughest one we can recall. The arrival of the vaccine this week offers hope that “this too shall pass” but we recognize that there are going to be many more tough days in weeks and months to come. Please know that CME&PD will be here to support you in your CPD needs and feel free to reach out and let us know how we can serve you better.
For those of you who will spend this holiday season caring for others, remember to also take time to care for yourselves. Stay safe and we look forward to seeing you next year. And once again, thank you for your support.
With warm regards,
Kelly Burak, MD, FRCPC, MSc (Epid)
Associate Dean, Continuing Medical Education
& Professional Development
Co-Lead, Physician Learning Program
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
