Since its report to the Board in July 2002, the work of the CME Committee has focused on: (1) preparing for ACCME re-accreditation; (2) convening the 15^th Annual Preventive Medicine Board Review Course; (3) jointly sponsoring educational programs with the American Medical Athletic Association and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials; (4) unveiling a new Web-based CME offering; and (5) furthering environmental health education activities through the work of the Environmental Health Education Advisory Committee. Current activities and upcoming plans in these areas are described below.

ACPM’s four-year accreditation to provide CME will expire in March 2003. The re-accreditation process has begun with the completion by the CME Committee and ACPM staff of a Self-study. The Self-study, a structured document detailing the College’s CME practices over the past four years, has prompted a comprehensive review of the CME program, including a survey of members’ CME preferences and revision of the CME Mission Statement. A draft of one section of the Self-study, a description of the strengths, weaknesses, and future plans of the CME program, is attached for Board members’ information. The re-accreditation process will continue in January 2003 with a visit by ACPM staff and the CME Committee Chair to the ACCME office in Chicago, IL. The process will conclude in March 2003 with the decision of the ACCME.

The 15^th Annual Preventive Medicine Board Review Course was held August 24–28 in Washington, DC. Almost 200 physicians attended, representing a moderate increase over last year's course. Excellent evaluation results and all spoken accounts indicate the course was a huge success. One hundred percent of respondents to the overall course evaluation reported that the course was of value to them and also that they would recommend the course to a colleague. This year’s course was marked by dramatic improvements to the syllabus, including producing the syllabus both on CD-ROM and in hard copy, and improved interaction by staff with the attendees and faculty.

ACPM provided CME credit for physicians who attended the annual meetings of the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) in July and the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) in September. In November, ACPM will jointly sponsor Medical Management of Endurance Events, an educational activity of the American Medical Athletic Association (AMAA), held annually in conjunction with the Marine Corps Marathon.

The Role of the Physician in Injury Control was unveiled in August and is available through ACPM’s On-line CME Center. ACPM worked with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) to create the module.

ACPM will be providing CME credit for a physician on-line reference guide, titled Recognizing Waterborne Disease and the Health Effects of Water Pollution. ACPM Member Patricia Meinhardt, MD, developed the activity, worth up to 20 hours of CME credit, with funding from the American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Arnot Ogden Medical Center. The resource is expected to be accessible for CME credit through ACPM’s web site and Environmental Health Education On-line Resource Center beginning in mid-November.

Finally, to increase use of the electronically-captured sessions from the last two ACPM annual meetings, ACPM established a free trial period during which members could view sessions at no cost. As of this writing, about 100 members have signed up during the trial period. A report on this marketing effort is attached.

In June 2002 the Environmental Health Education Advisory Committee convened via conference call to review the successful waterborne disease institute held at Preventive Medicine 2002, discuss ACPM’s on-line environmental health educational offerings on safe drinking water and Iodine 131, and offer ideas and suggestions to shape an on-line environmental health education resource center.

ACPM has recruited two new members for the Environmental Health Education Advisory Committee to fill positions that were vacated earlier this year. Pam Allweiss, MD, and Patricia Meinhardt, MD, were selected because of their expertise with environmental health issues and experience with medical education and training. One additional member will be added soon.

The development of the On-line Environmental Health Education Resource Center has continued during the last few months. Soon to be added to the ACPM web site, the Resource Center will provide a portal for ACPM members and other physicians to CME offerings in environmental health, information on environmental health conferences, workshops and events (with an emphasis on CME), links to publications and journals, and links to other environmental health education and training resources. The content of the resource center is based upon the results of the needs assessment that was conducted during Year 2 of the ATSDR cooperative agreement, and the input and guidance of the Environmental Health Education Advisory Committee.

We have submitted a continuation application to ATSDR and been awarded $124,000 in funding for Year Four, nearly a $40,000 increase over the previous year. The bulk of the increased funds will support the marketing and dissemination of ATSDR case studies, including the annual meeting session.