Guidelines for CME providers detailing how ACOE assesses the educational value of live events to be accredited for CME

Below are the guidelines for Organisers detailing how ACOE assess the educational value of the activities to be accredited for CME.

ACOE assesses individual CME activities in the field of oncology submitted by CME organisers.

Guideline 1: Statement of intent

The organiser should have a written statement of purpose or intent relating to the CME event. It is the responsibility of the organiser to obtain the endorsement of their most relevant governing body for this statement.

The statement should:

• Describe the goals of the educational event
• Outline the characteristics of the potential participants
• Summarise the educational activities
• Explain how the educational activities meet a clear educational need

Guideline 2: Provision of information to prospective participants

The organiser should ensure that likely participants are informed about the content, nature and target audience for each educational event before the event commences.

Within the programme information, the organiser should:

• State the most important planned learning outcomes (between 1-3) in terms of knowledge and skills
• Indicate the optimum target group for the educational activity
• State what teaching methods will be used (specify percentage of each teaching modality)

ACOE believes that interactive CME events increase the knowledge and problem solving abilities of the participants to a much higher extent than pure speakers presentations.

Guideline 3: Evaluation of the educational event

The organiser must have procedures to assess the effectiveness of the educational event, including the educational content, the speakers and the venue.

The organiser should provide evidence that the evaluation assesses:

• The extent to which desired learning outcomes are being fulfilled. Each stated planned learning outcome must be listed on the participants’ evaluation form under question 1.
• The quality of the teaching
• The participants’ opinions on how they have benefited by attending the educational event

ACOE has produced a standard evaluation form, which can be used by organisers for the evaluation of their event.

The organiser should have evidence that it audits the evaluation forms and make use of the resulting information when planning future educational events.

ACOE recommends to get the evaluation form completed by the participant who wants to obtain the certificate of attendance.

In addition, the organiser should state whether a knowledge/skill

• Test will take place at the start of the event
• Test will take place at the end of the event

ACOE recommends the use of testing processes as a way to help determining the educational needs and the achievements of the event. However, this is not compulsory to obtain accreditation.

Guideline 4: Management of the educational event

The organiser should be able to provide evidence that it has a clearly defined management procedure governing the organisation of any educational event.

The organiser should identify and record:

• An organisational structure which manages an educational event
• The individual responsible for the event and their authority
• A procedure for identifying competent faculty and an appropriate venue
• A budget for the event
• A mechanism to record and verify the participation of individuals in the event

Guideline 5: Sponsorship

CME Organisers must guarantee that their education programme and selection of faculty are free of any bias. This will be done by providing duly signed ‘Declaration on disclosure’ and ‘Course Director’s commitment’ using the templates drafted and required by the UEMS.