Envisioning the Next Era of CME/CPD: A Workshop Preview

A decade ago, Curtis Olson PhD, then editor of the Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, made 20 predictions about the future of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development. Those predictions included a shift from the individual to the team as the primary unit of learning, a greater focus on interprofessional learning, more frequent use of evaluation models that tell us not only what works, but also under what conditions and why, and less reliability on the psychology of learning and more emphasis on the sociology of behavior change. Have you been wondering how those predictions are holding up today? Joining us from the frontlines are two consummate CME/CPD professionals from Clinical Education Alliance—Sarah Nisly and Caroline Pardo. They’ll be sharing preliminary insights from research they’ve been doing on the relevance of these predictions today, emphasizing the need for diverse voices and perspectives in the field, and discussing how CME/CPD needs to be in sync with the "messiness" and complexity of contemporary healthcare.Tune in to learn more about: How past predictions about CME/CE are aligning with current trends and practices. How technology is reshaping shaping healthcare and the future of CPD. The importance for CME/CPD to adapt to different generations and changing priorities. And how continuous research and collaboration with multiple stakeholders is essential to shape the future of CPD and ensure its relevance and impact. Takeaways We need a forward-thinking approach in CME/CPD to prepare us to adapt to the evolving needs of healthcare professionals. There's an increasing emphasis on interprofessional education and the role of team-based healthcare. This approach recognizes the complexity of healthcare delivery and the need for collaborative learning strategies. Needs assessments and grant proposals are a focus of several sessions at the 20204 Alliance conference in New Orleans in early February. Today’s episode reminds us that needs assessments in CME/CE absolutely must go beyond clinical data and try to grapple with the real drivers of clinical gaps, including system and process issues, and patient preferences.  Caroline and Sarah’s work offers an invitation to us all to think about how we can be agents of change, and help to shape the future of CME/CPD. Time Stamps (03:46) Introducing Caroline + Sarah (05:23) Revisiting Curtis Olson's 20 predictions for the future (08:35) Interesting themes that stuck out when exploring (11:40) More about the juxtaposition and what it looks like in practice (18:49) A tiny flavor of their research process (22:29) The shifts and changes from the original predictions (29:34) The messiness of healthcare and the need for evolution (33:00) Frameworks for contemporary healthcare (37:23) Their predictions for where the profession is heading (42:38) The importance of comprehensive needs assessments ResourcesOlson C. Twenty predictions for the future of CPD: implications of the shift from the update model to improving clinical practice. J Cont Educ Health Prof. 2012;32(3):151-2Pardo C, Nisly S. Unleashing Our Community's Power: Insights and Inspiration from the Field. Alliance Annual Conference. 2024. Feb 6, 10 a.m. Oak Alley.Connect with Caroline + SarahClinical Education AllianceCaroline LinkedIn | Email: [email protected] LinkedIn | Email: [email protected] Mentioned in this episode:Why Retreats Work: Disconnection, Body Wisdom, and the Science of Letting GoRewrite Your Power Retreat 2026This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp