Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions

Today in the United States, the professional health workforce is not consistently prepared to provide high quality health care and assure patient safety, even as the nation spends more per capita on health care than any other country. The absence of a comprehensive and well-integrated system of continuing education (CE) in the health professions is an important contributing factor to knowledge and performance deficiencies at the individual and system levels. To be most effective, health professionals at every stage of their careers must continue learning about advances in research and treatment in their fields (and related fields) in order to obtain and maintain up-to-date knowledge and skills in caring for their patients. Many health professionals regularly undertake a variety of efforts to stay up to date, but on a larger scale, the nation's approach to CE for health professionals fails to support the professions in their efforts to achieve and maintain proficiency. Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions illustrates a vision for a better system through a comprehensive approach of continuing professional development, and posits a framework upon which to develop a new, more effective system. The book also offers principles to guide the creation of a national continuing education institute. Table of ContentsFront MatterSummary1 Continuing Professional Development: Building and Sustaining a Quality Workforce2 Scientific Foundations of Continuing Education3 Regulation and Financing4 Moving Toward a Continuing Professional Development System5 Envisioning a Better System of Continuing Professional Development6 Function and Structure of a Continuing Professional Development Institute7 Implementation, Research, and EvaluationAppendix A: Literature Review TablesAppendix B: Health Professions TableAppendix C: International Comparison of Continuing Education and Continuing Professional DevelopmentAppendix D: Continuing Education in Professional Fields Outside of Health CareAppendix E: Workshop AgendaAppendix F: Committee Member and Staff Biographies