The Methodist Hospital System. Leading Medicine
The Methodist Hospital System. Leading Medicine

Continuing Medical Education

The Methodist Hospital - Continuing Medical Education

The Methodist Hospital System is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Purpose and Vision

The Methodist Hospital System's (TMHS) Office of Continuing Medical Education (CME) promotes the continued professional development of physicians in order to deliver the safest, highest quality, and most effective patient care. The CME program conducts appropriate assessments of learner needs and develops effective strategies to enhance physician performance in patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, professionalism, and systems-based practice. Methodist believes that learning rather than teaching initiates changes and improvements in practice. TMHS is committed to quality and patient safety and fostering an educational continuum to encourage and stimulate physicians as lifelong learners, which will enable quality, patient safety and the most efficacious patient care.

Content

As a spiritually-based institution, The Methodist Hospital System's activities aim to address the patient's overall needs in a manner that enhances the quality of the healing relationship. Activities are updated regularly to capitalize on new developments that will enhance the medical knowledge, skills, and clinical performance of participants.

The content of CME activities offered by Methodist concentrates on disciplines in which The Methodist Hospital System has recognized excellence:

  • Cardiovascular Science
  • Endocrinology/Diabetes/Metabolism
  • Neuroscience
  • Oncology
  • Orthopedics
  • Women's Health

Quality and patient safety are foundational elements irrespective of the medical disciplines involved. The in-house regularly scheduled series, which are focused in academic departments corresponding to Methodist's clinical strengths, are designed to ensure our practitioners remain at the cutting edge of science and medicine.

Educational Audience

Potential participants for The Methodist Hospital System's CME activities are:

  • Physicians on the staffs of The Methodist Hospital System institutions and affiliates
  • Physicians who practice in the greater Houston area and the State of Texas
  • Physicians in other regions of the United States and international venues
  • Medical educators and clinical researchers at the local, regional, national, and international levels

Types of Activities Offered

TMHS's CME Program offers a wide variety of educational formats, as follows:

  • Regularly scheduled series (RSS's)
  • Live course and workshops
  • Enduring self study activities, including print, electronic and Internet-based
  • Jointly sponsored activities in collaboration with extramural organizations of recognized merit

All activities are planned and implemented based on a multifactorial needs assessment. Selection of educational design and methods is based on identified needs, content, educational objectives, activity evaluation, and outcomes assessment strategies, including, where possible, methodologies that have demonstrated efficacy in changing physician behavior and improving healthcare outcomes.

Expected Results of the Program

The Methodist Hospital System CME Program provides high quality activities that:

  • Address identified priorities in quality and patient safety (both local and national)
  • Guide and support the professionalism of all participants
  • Enhance physicians' ability to improve their medical competence and their performance in practice
  • Improve the outcomes of patients' health

The Methodist Hospital System assesses the outcomes of activities on two levels:

  1. participant-focused results
  2. institutional-focused results

The program uses appropriate measures and techniques to assess learner gains and institutional results. Results are measured with quantitative and qualitative data to assess parameters appropriate to the learning experience, such as:

  • Change in knowledge levels
  • Participant attitudes
  • Perceived self-efficacy in clinical application
  • Skill levels in performing clinical tasks
  • Impact on physician performance and/or health outcomes as determined through chart reviews, patient interviews, institutional reports on clinical performance measures, and other data

The CME program operates in an academic healthcare environment and is continuously evaluated to assure alignment with its mission and its effectiveness in planning, implementing, evaluating, and documenting all CME activities sponsored by The Methodist Hospital System and its compliance with the requirements of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and other applicable regulatory agencies.