Office of Continuing Education and Professional Development

Continuing Medical Education Certification

The University of Tennessee College of Medicine (UTCOM) is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing Medical Education for physicians. The office of Continuing Education and Professional Development (CEPD) is charged with the management of the ACCME accreditation for the Knoxville campus.

All ACCME-certified activities are expected to be planned, implemented, and evaluated in compliance with the:

Initial Planning and Requirements

STEP 1:

Contact us:

• Email us to ensure staff availability for your conference dates.
• It is important to involve the staff of the CEPD early in the planning process of a continuing medical education activity.

STEP 2:

Complete our Continuing Medical Education Application for AMA PRA Category 1 Creditâ„¢
Please Note: Applications must be complete and submitted at least 60 days prior to the scheduled activity. 

• Create a log in and profile.
• The application does not need to be completed in one session
• Upload the required forms
• Applications must provide documentation that is compliant with ACCME Standards and meet the definition of CME.  Our application questions will walk you through these.
• All answers will be subject to scrutiny and if found weak or incomplete, the application will be rejected, and you will be required to resubmit.

STEP 3:

Application Review, Follow Up, and Approval

• Our office will review your application and be in touch with necessary revisions.
• Upon approval, you will receive an email with next steps.

Disclosure of Relevant Financial Relationships

All individuals with control over CME activity content must disclose all financial relationships that they have with an ineligible company with the past 24 months.

• The ACCME defines ineligible companies as "those whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients

• The ACCME defines a relevant financial relationship as a financial relationship in any amount, which occurred in the 24-month period preceding the time that the individual was asked to assume a role controlling content of the CME activity.

*Anyone refusing to disclose relevant financial relationships will not be allowed to plan or present at the activity.

Financial Obligation

The financial risk for any activity is the sole responsibility of the educational provider and not the office of CEPD.
Educational Grants

• The office of CEPD will not apply for any of these types of grants. 
• If a co-provider wishes to apply for educational grants for CME activities, the CEPD must have a Letter of Agreement (LOA) prior to the start date of the activity.
• The source of all support from commercial interests must be disclosed to learners.

Activity Promotion

Promotional material must contain certain statements relative to CME credit and the educational program.
No wording such as “CME-certification is pending” is allowed per the ACCME. The CEPD must have final approval on all brochures and promotional materials prior to mailing.