Sunday, July 12, 2020

Curbsider CME for non-internists through VCU Health

My favorite CME source, the Curbsider's Podcast, has long offered CME credit for internists (they are, after all, an internal medicine podcast). For family physicians, not so much.

There is now to get free Category One AMA credit [2] for Curbsiders podcasts through "Virginia Commonwealth University's VCUHealth Continuing Education [1] using their Curbsider curriculum.

You have to listen to the episode and complete a post-test. You can and should use the Podcast notes to compete the post-test (how we learn). 

I was able to register with VCUHealth although I have no connection there. After registration I completed my profile. (The web site is ancient and barely works in a modern browser -- don't try it on mobile.)

This is all a bit of a secret. I only know of it from a blurb at the start of recent podcasts. There's a tiny CME link to VCUHealth at the bottom of the summary page for recent episodes.

I've completed one module. There were 3 post-test question, one didn't have a clear answer (practice varies). On answering all 3 "correctly" I received a certificate. I had to answer some annoying 'commitment to change' survey questions that must be part of a (past? forgotten?) VCUHealth initiative. I received a link to an AMA PRA category one certificate that I downloaded, then I entered the CME at the ABFM site (they had entries for VCU).

A happy discovery. Thank you VCU and Curbsiders.

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[1] Starting from the CME site, it was weirdly hard to figure out what the heck VCU is. The logo is really small and the full name is never used.
[2] To be a AAFP fellow you need AAFP CME, but the American Board of Family Medicine accepts AMA Category one and their own programs. The two organizations don't entirely get along. 

Update 5/1/2023: I once completed a "knowledge feast" CME from the Curbsiders that spanned multiple episodes and was very (maybe too) time efficient. I believe that was a one time thing -- too easy to misuse I fear.