Winter 2014 (Volume 24, Number 4)
Educational Update
By Christopher Penney, MD, FRCPC
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The CRA re-applied for Royal College Accreditor status in April 2014 and our application was generally well received by the College reviewers. The College as well as the CRA are wrestling with how to deliver palatable outcome-based Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in a cost effective and unbiased manner. Using that number of qualifiers in a single sentence indicates that achieving this ideal will not be easy nor will it happen overnight.
Beginning with new (or next) Royal College Maintenance of Competence (MOC) cycles starting on or after January 1st, 2014, all MOC Program participants will be required to complete a minimum of 25 credits in each section of the MOC Program during their new five-year MOC cycle. Thus a minimum of eight hours (three credits per hour) of Section 3 (self-assessment) activities will be compulsory in your next five-year CPD cycle. The CRA Education Committee is working to provide you with such programs.
The Education and the Scientific Committees are striving to go beyond traditional lecture and workshop formats at the upcoming Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM). We will be trialing new educational methods such as the flipped classroom workshop, discussion tables, and pre- and post-multiple-choice exams at the Quebec City ASM. An Image of the Month contest will run in the CRA newsletter starting in the fall of 2014. Images from this contest will be used to develop an annual self-assessment photo quiz for the membership. A column on rheumatology apps will also run in the newsletter. If you have thoughts on innovative teaching techniques or suggestions of any sort, email me at penney@ucalgary.ca or apply for the CRA Innovation in Education Award.
The Education Committee in Whister, BC.
Patient Partners in Arthritis remains active, albeit with great difficulty, in many educational centers across Canada. The Education Committee is negotiating with The Arthritis Society (TAS) on ways to support this program. Hopefully I will have good news for you soon.
We had no winners of the Innovation in Education Award in 2013. I encourage the membership, especially residents and those presenting at the ASM, to consider applying for this award in 2014.
Christopher Penney, MD, FRCPC
Associate Clinical Professor,
University of Calgary
Rheumatologist,
Richmond Road Diagnostic & Treatment Center
Calgary, Alberta |
