The Academy and AMA will share a 2006 award for contributions to the field of CME from the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education®, a Birmingham, Ala., company that identifies itself as the international association of CME professionals.
"It is most gratifying to recognize the AMA and AAFP for outstanding vision and leadership in developing innovative processes to recognize physician participation in 'just in time,' 'point of care' and other nontraditional learning opportunities" resulting in CME credit, said Harry Gallis, M.D., president of the Alliance for CME, in an Oct. 31 letter. The two organizations received the 2006 Frances M. Maitland -- PACME Award.
The CME innovations of AAFP and AMA "will significantly advance physicians' participation in self-assessment and lifelong learning and contribute to their practice performance improvement," said Gallis. "It is through efforts such as yours that we advance the quality and integrity" of CME.
In a Nov. 8 letter to Gallis, Norman Kahn, M.D., AAFP vice president for science and education, said, "We are particularly pleased with the timeliness of this recognition." He pointed to steps the organizations have taken in the past two years -- for example, the Academy's decision to move from "hours" to "credits" in how CME is recognized and awarded as of Jan. 1, 2004. That move laid the foundation for implementation of innovative CME programs that offer credit for practice-based performance improvement as well as for AAFP's progress toward awarding CME credit for point-of-care learning activities. The performance improvement programs include METRIC -- Measuring, Evaluating and Translating Research Into Care.
The annual award, which is endowed by the Pharmaceutical Alliance for CME, will be given to AAFP and AMA during the annual meeting of the Alliance for CME Jan. 25 - 28 in San Francisco. Each award recipient will receive $750 and a plaque.
