staying profcient with new procedures - is CME really enough?

[copacetic]

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medicine is changing all the time with new procedures being developed constantly. and i know that it is for this reason that coninuing medical education exists. however, is doing 2 or 3 weeks of CME a year really enough to become proficient with new procedures. i mean, you gotta go through months of residency to become proficient at a particular procedure, so how is it possible that a private practice physician who has been out of residency for say 15-20 years to take a CME course and become proficient in some new procedure. i dont get it. can someone enlighten me?

 

[Winged Scapula]

CME doesn't imply proficiency.

CMEs are designed to continue your education, enhance existing knowledge or advance new techniques.

While there are physicians who seem to assume proficiency after a weekend course in something, most realize that the goal of CME is to introduce these techniques for users to begin to use them when they get back home. Furthermore, most surgical procedures are based on skills that the surgeon already has...the device might be different, but the ability to manipulate the device or do the procedure isn't a brand new skill.

 

[copacetic]

so basically what your're saying is that a new procedure comes along, you go take a cme course on it, learn the principles behind it, then go practice using it with your colleagues at the practice and become proficient while practicing? or maybe your partners (the younger ones) with some more up to date skills and techniques can spread their wealth of knowledge to the group. im guessing these are the two ways in which new knowledge is spread in a group?

 

[Winged Scapula]

so basically what your're saying is that a new procedure comes along, you go take a cme course on it, learn the principles behind it, then go practice using it with your colleagues at the practice and become proficient while practicing? or maybe your partners (the younger ones) with some more up to date skills and techniques can spread their wealth of knowledge to the group. im guessing these are the two ways in which new knowledge is spread in a group?

Yes.

It is impossible to have achieved proficiency or even exposure in every surgical procedure that exists during residency. Most attendings will tell you that the first time they did a certain procedure was after they finished residency; this is especially true for some of the more unusual cases.

When new technology arises, if you don't train in it, you stagnate. Therefore, you either take a course or learn the technique from others who are proficient. Again, bear in mind that most "new" techniques are still built on the basic principles of surgical teachings and that proficiency in most things doesn't take long because you aren't starting from scratch. For example, most bariatric surgeons trained more than 3-5 years ago never learned the lap band but now most are offering it because the surgical skills required to do the procedure aren't foreign to them.

When you buy a new car, you know how to drive, but you have to learn where the turn signals are, whether you turn them up/down or rotate a lever, etc. You have the skills, you just have to apply them in a new environment with some adjustment. Its not like you're getting into a car having never driven or seen someone drive.

 

[copacetic]

thanks, this was very helpful!