So much of our life is online these days—from the news we see to the friends with which we interact. Online resources allow us access to content on almost any topic at the click of a button, and when it’s convenient for our hectic schedules. Where this has been especially compelling over the last few years is within the domain of continuing medical education (CME).
It’s not news that online CME allows practitioners access to relevant content and experts from the comfort of their home, or between patients in their office. Most have been utilizing this for some time now. What has been improving over the last few years is the type and quality of that content. More and more providers have added content that increasingly addresses more specific topics, conditions and treatments. For those in the vein care community, it can be difficult to find quality, accredited venous content.
The ACP Online Education Center Serves the Vein Care Community
The American College of Phlebology (ACP) understood the need for comprehensive online vein care training in 2011, when it launched an online education center (OEC) dedicated to meeting the needs of not only its members, but also the larger community of health care providers involved in the diagnosis and treatment of venous disease.
“Very few online CME sites deal directly with vein care in a comprehensive way,” noted Dr. Robert Worthington- Kirsch, chair of the ACP CME Committee. “We are building a program that would promote best practices and extend our live activities to a broader audience in a way that will stand shoulder to shoulder with the online content of any other major specialty.”
In order to ensure these standards are met, there’s a thorough vetting process for both educational relevance and compliance with standards set forth by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), which requires the ACP meet specific criteria as an accredited provider. Because of this rigorous process, all for-credit courses offered through the online education center qualify for AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM.
A Comprehensive Venous Resource
The ACP Online Education Center currently hosts one of the most comprehensive catalogs of venous related topics on the web, with topics ranging from basic to advanced and superficial to deep venous issues. The more than 100 courses feature prominent experts from around the world who have been selected from the ACP Annual Congress, the recent UIP World Meeting and smaller topical symposia. The courses have been specifically developed for physicians, nurses, sonographers and other health care professionals who wish to advance their venous disease knowledge, skills, strategies, practice performance and patient outcomes.
The comprehensive array of venous health courses currently online provides a flexibility live courses can’t offer, for they allow health care providers to take these courses any time and at their own pace.
Expanding the Online Education Center
The purpose of the online education center is to provide the most up-to-date content and best practices in the field of vein care. With the inclusion of streaming content from live events and expanded allied health topics, the online education center continues to expand the educational opportunities for the growing needs of the medical community.
For instance, the ACP has been an advocate for certification and standards of care, and recently added a phlebology review course that provides a comprehensive lecture series reviewing the essentials of venous disease and its care for those preparing for the American Board of Venous & Lymphatic Medicine (ABVLM) exam. In addition, online self-assessment modules (SAMs) have been designed to aid ABVLM diplomates in their maintenance of certification, but can be utilized by any member seeking SAM credits.
“The intent of the online education center is to provide those seeking quality, accredited venous disease education an option that augments more traditional learning,” stated Dr. Worthington-Kirsch. “When the online technology is combined with live educational offerings, the ACP provides comprehensive vein care education unmatched by any other venous health care education provider.”
Exciting offerings are continually added to the online education center and can be accessed at: http://education.phlebology.org.
If you are an ACP member, you can log in with your member user name and password. Non-members can also access courses online by registering and setting up a user name and password.
