Notice to all event Chairpersons 

Reference:  American Medial Association –
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/8591.html

 CME Provider Frequently Asked Question:

 *Can a CME Provider give a faculty member AMA PRA category 1 credit for his/her presentation?

 Yes and no. An accredited provider may award Category 1 credit to a physician faculty member, but only to the extent that they participated as a learner in other components of the certified activity. If a provider has designated an activity for twenty hours of credit, and a physician faculty member teaches for one hour but participates in the other nineteen, then they could claim up to nineteen hours from the provider.

 No, in those cases where, for example, a live activity is designated for a total of one hour and the physician faculty member is teaching for that hour. The physician in this instance may claim credit for teaching in an activity designated for AMA PRA category 1 credit; however, the provider does not award this credit. The physician faculty member may claim Category 1 credit, toward an AMA PRA certificate, for teaching in those specific settings. In recognition of the physician learning that takes place when preparing a quality presentation for a Category 1 live activity, physicians may claim two hours of credit for every hour teaching, up to ten credit hours per year.

 *Can a physician get credit for participating in the same CME activity twice?

 No, our historical position remains that a given certified activity’s learning objectives should be satisfied when the physician claims credit for their participation. When a physician participates again in the identical activity, even in order to validate learning or to clarify specific topics, then they should not claim, nor should the provider award, duplicate credit for the activity. Although learning benefits may accrue to the physician who participates twice, they still are ultimately satisfying the activity’s learning objectives for which they were originally awarded credit.

CPPD periodically receives this question, and with greater frequency due to the advent of Internet based enduring materials, which make it easier to parse and revisit these learning materials. The issue of physician directed learning in general has forced some fresh thinking on this topic, which serves as one of the drivers behind our Internet CME (self initiated, self directed) and performance measurement pilot projects. In both cases, how Category 1 credit can best be awarded for physician directed learning will be one of the questions we will be looking to answer.