Tuesday, June 3, 2014

How are online Continuing Education programs made?


It is the beginning of Week 3 of my time here at rxBriefCase. I want to share with you a bit of what I’ve learned so far. If you’re curious of how the process of a CE program / module development works, let me tell you a bit about it.


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1. Come up with an idea!
Whether it be from member surveys or trends, someone must think of a brilliant topic for a CE program, something that is relevant to the community and would benefit healthcare professionals by offering it in a CE program, like the recent “Medication Reconciliation: Doing It Because It Is The Right Thing To Do”.




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2. A “needs assessment” is sometimes conducted to determine what healthcare professionals would need (or want) to know about that topic, identify learning gaps, and so on.


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3. Recruit faculty to develop the program content. If a medical writer is assisting, they convene with the faculty to determine the objectives, clinicals and any case examples to be included. The faculty, which can include pharmacists, nurses and/or physicians, are selected based on experience and clinical expertise.



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4. Project Managers work in conjunction with the faculty to ensure that the program meets its original timelines.


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5. Review, edit, review… and more editing and reviewing by the faculty and medical writer.


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6. Accreditation Review: Once faculty have reviewed the program, the program is then submitted to CCCEP, who in turn review the program to determine if it meets their standards for accreditation.



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7. Programming Begins: Once conditionally approved, the Content Team converts the standard word-processing document into the feature-rich electronic course you see online.



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8. The Development Team provide support on any new features that launch with the new program, or tweaks to existing systems to ensure optimal user experience.



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9. Waiting… It takes between 4 to 6 weeks to receive final program accreditation.

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10. The program goes live! The Marketing Team spreads the word to members so that they are aware of the awesome new program.

So there you have it, program development in 10 easy(ish) steps! If you have any burning questions, feel free to send me a comment using the form to the right.


A Word About Sponsorship
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Funding for our programs come in the form of unrestricted educational grants from sponsors, such as universities, medical societies, pharmaceutical companies or government bodies.