Continuing Medical Education

Joslin's CME activities advance the highest standards of care and draw on current medical literature to provide relevant, evidence-based findings from Joslin faculty and other recognized experts.

Joslin professional education activities are highly respected with robust participation by learners of all specialties and geographic areas. Many of these educational programs are now delivered online, allowing for real-time interactive participation by learners in their offices or homes. However, we still develop live programs when educationally appropriate.

All of our programs use innovative educational methodology based on adult learning principles as adapted to the various educational delivery methods. The hallmark of all of these activities is to utilize expert faculty to translate leading clinical and research insights into practical applications for the clinician, including the patient-voice when possible, and ultimately, result in better health for their patients.

Here are examples of the topics we have covered over the last few years:

• Lifestyle modification
• Metabolic syndrome
• Treating type 2 diabetes with anti-diabetes medications
• The use of insulin to treat type 1 and type 2 diabetes
• Cardiovascular and renal outcomes trials of anti-diabetes medications
• The use of technology to support insulin replacement therapies
• Obesity and diabetes
• Dyslipidemia and diabetes
• Hypertension and dyslipidemia
• Micro/macrovascular risk prevention and treatment
• Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and metabolism
• Neuropathies and other diabetes complications
• Diabetic eye care: evolving treatments
• Diabetes treatment in culturally diverse populations
• Women’s endocrine issues, menopause and metabolism and osteoporosis
• Patient adherence to treatment and overcoming therapeutic barriers

We believe that measuring the impact of our educational programs is essential. As a result, we develop all of our educational projects by identifying educational gaps in a population, and then defining learning objectives that reflect the plan to narrow those gaps.

Our outcomes assessments are based on Moore's 7 Levels of CME Outcomes Measurements to whatever degree is appropriate for that activity.

For many projects, we also conduct follow-up surveys of CME participants to measure educational retention, as well as the impact on learner performance and confidence in the changes in care delivery that were sought. Outcomes reports are provided to all grantors when projects receive external funding and are also used for our internal self-assessment.

In addition to conducting evaluations at the conclusion of our education activities, Joslin goes one step further by conducting Educational Impact Assessments (EIAs) - surveys of CME participants one month after they’ve attended our symposia. These surveys tell us if our programs increased participants’ knowledge, and whether our programs caused clinicians to change the way they practice medicine.

The Value of Educational Impact Assessments -- Data from a recent EIA survey, on a symposia participant population of 1,311, demonstrate that on a self-reported basis, the participants who indicated that they planned to modify some aspect of their practice do so.

• At the end of the symposium, 75% of MDs indicated that they intended to change at least one of six aspects of patient care.
• Three months later, 54% reported making at least one change.
• The most significant barrier to change was lack of resources.
• 92% of MDs agreed that the symposium content helped them improve the management of their patients with diabetes.

Joslin’s CME program is part of Joslin’s Strategic Initiatives Division, which develops and markets innovative programs, products and services that expand the availability of Joslin knowledge and expertise to persons with diabetes and the clinicians who care for them.

These include professional medical education, tele-ophthalmology services, disease management, publications and affiliated centers worldwide. All Joslin strategic initiatives are designed to provide user-friendly, practical solutions that enable our clients to meet the challenge of improving both health outcomes and the performance of their operations.

Joslin delivers cutting-edge content in a variety of user-friendly, high-impact multimedia products. By offering a diverse array of activities we are able to reach the widest possible base of clinicians.

• Live symposia. Over 200 live symposia are produced yearly throughout the U.S.
• Joslin ClinicalFOCUS satellite broadcast network. With distribution to 2,800 potential sites at healthcare institutions throughout the U.S., each one-hour satellite-delivered CME activity has an average projected audience of at least 5,000 healthcare professionals.
• Joslin ClinicalWATCH via Professional Television Network’s digital television channel. Joslin CME content reaches a minimum of 2,000 primary care physicians per program through this private digital television network.
• Internet courses via an alliance with Medscape, the leading source of online information and education for more than 575,000 physicians and approximately 2.1 million allied health professionals.
• Videotapes, DVDs, CD-ROMs and monographs, which present the same high-quality content in formats to suit every clinician’s preferred learning style.