On-line continuing education—another step forward

2009 Spiritual Care Collaborative survey results on continuing education

Continuing education for chaplains, pastoral counselors and clinical pastoral educators is important for maintaining and advancing professional competency. Pastoral professionals who visited the Spiritual Care Collaborative (SCC) website to register for a conference were asked to complete a questionnaire on continuing education. Results of the survey show that continuing education, both in-person and through electronic means, were clearly ranked as the most important activities the SCC partner organizations could provide in the future. Additionally, continuing education preferences vary depending upon constituent groups. These findings have implications for the design of future educational programs.

Continuing medical education in pediatric anesthesia--a theoretical overview

The importance of continuing medical education (CME) as a method of improving the quality of care of children undergoing anesthesia is universally recognized. This article, which is based on a presentation at the FEAPA European Conference on Paediatric Anaesthesia in September 2007 in Amsterdam, gives a theoretical overview of continuing education and introduces some generic educational concepts, such as the CRISIS-criteria and Kirkpatrick's evaluation model, which are as relevant to pediatric anesthesia as to other areas of medical practice. The terms CME and continuing professional develop are described. Some consideration is given to how anesthesiologists can assess the potential worth of an educational activity for their practice. No attempt will be made to judge particular educational activities, as the choice of the most appropriate activity rests primarily with the individual.