ACEhp CPD Pulse Points November Edition: Members Reflect

In April, the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (ACEhp) began a weekly series of webinars called "CPD Pulse Points." In each session, Chitra Subramanian, current ACEhp president, has a conversation with a guest about a topic relevant to healthcare continuing professional development (CPD) today. Access is free for ACEhp members. Non-members can attend the live sessions for $5 or purchase a recording for $25. Each session is recorded and made available for learners who are unable to attend the live meeting, so if any of the sessions sound interesting to you, they are available for viewing in full.

Between scheduling conflicts and Thanksgiving, things slowed down in November. And since the year is winding down, Chitra decided that it was also time to look back at all of the sessions that have been held since the CPD Pulse Points series began in April. ACEhp reached out to members who have attended a majority of the sessions and put together two panels to discuss our experiences in the field and how this series fits into our professional lives. Yes, I did say "we." I was one of those panelists, so if you want to see me talking about the relationship between healthcare CPD and public health while sitting in my virtual Star Wars rebel base, you can check out the November 12 session.

As a CPD professional, the most enjoyable thing about these sessions was the interaction. It was nice to have a chance to talk to others in our field.The panel I was on consisted of myself (Bethany Banner, MPH, CHCP, Consultant at Banner Continuing Education Solutions);Tabitha Egger, CME Program Coordinator at Dignity Health; and Jan Schultz, MSN, RN, FACEHP, CHCP, Principal at Jan Schultz Associates. What was great about the three of us is that we are all at very different stages in our careers. Tabitha has been in the field for a little over a year. I'm in my 17th year. And Jan has been around long enough that she, as she puts it, "failed retirement" before opening her consulting business. Because of our different stages in life and career, we got different things out of the sessions we attended, which made for a nice conversation.

The second panel consisted of Mark Hagerty, Owner of Biomedical Writing Services; Melissa Horner, Senior CME Program Coordinator at Legacy Health; Trusandra Taylor, MD, MPH, Owner of TaylorMedCommunications; and Richard Wiggins, MD, CIIP, FSIIM, FAHSE, Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. What was great about this panel was that they could speak to healthcare CPD as both providers and learners. This panel spent more time discussing how the pandemic has changed the format of activities than my panel did.

Both panels provided interesting discussions. If you are a member or have the budget available, they are worth a listen. But if you don't have the budget available, I would recommend saving your money for educational opportunities that are more specific to your work.

• 1.) In order to address large public health issues, we need to incorporate them into other activities instead of trying to tackle them head on. For example, instead of a series on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), the topic should be included when holding activities on stroke, cancer, or substance use disorders (among others)
• 2.) Mentorship and community are vital for lifting up newcomers to the field of healthcare CPD
• 3.) The changes brought by the pandemic are here to stay. Now we need to figure out how to create activities that are more seamless between a virtual component and a live component

The following are the sessions held in November.

Reflections: The Audience Perspective, November 12, 2020

Reflections: The Audience Perspective, November 19, 2020 

Image credit: Danil Polshin. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0