Hello again people. We’ve missed you. Heck, we’ve missed anyone. How do I know? Even Derek said to me last week, “Man, I really miss socializing with people besides my wife and kids.” You know when the world’s self-proclaimed No. 1 Introvert starts to break down that things are seriously ca-ca.

Anyway, after the usual dragging of our feet following a successful Spring meeting (record attendance once again BTW), Derek and I reconvened last week to start talking about CMEpalooza Fall (set your calendar for Wednesday, October 14). We have the usual basket of good/bad ideas for sessions that we’ll be picking over a bit more this week, but one thing we know we’ll be repeating is the selection of an official CMEpalooza Fall intern.

Admittedly, our Fall intern will have some pretty big shoes to fill. Not only will they be following in the footsteps of our most talented intern ever (the illustrious Spring intern Katie), but they’ll also have to up their game to even approach the varied skills of Derek and I. OK, maybe that second component won’t be so tough.

Not convinced this is the perfect opportunity for you? Maybe you’ll be swayed by what Spring intern Katie had to say about her experience.

“It was OK, I guess.”

A rousing endorsement if I’ve ever heard one.

So what exactly are the expected duties of the CMEpalooza Fall 2020 Intern?

1. You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to the CMEpalooza blog at your leisure. Maybe once a month or so. You can write about just about anything. Hopefully nothing that will offend others. That’s typically my territory.
2. We’ll have you shadow one of us virtually as we plan a CMEpalooza session. You’ll learn how the proverbial sausage is made. Maybe you’ll even pick up a thing or two that you can incorporate into your real job. You’ll even have the chance to show up on camera during a Fall session so you can show your doubting friends and family that, yes, you are officially part of the CMEpalooza team.
3. You will spend every other Saturday spending 2 hours sewing masks to send to every CMEpalooza panelist for our Fall meeting (optional duty)
4. You can let us know if there is another way you want to contribute. Maybe you are web-savvy and have some suggestions on how to spruce up the website. Maybe you have an idea on how we can market CMEpalooza better. Maybe you just want to frequently tell Derek and I how great we are. These all work.

So what qualifications are we looking for?

1. You should be working in CME in some capacity
2. You should have a thick skin – it’s pretty certain that we will make fun of you at some point
3. You should not consider Mork and Mindy to be the “greatest TV show ever about an alien being” (that would be ALF). Sorry, but we have to draw the line somewhere.

Beyond that, we’re open to anyone. Maybe you have only worked in CME for 1 year and want to learn more about our industry? Great. Maybe you’ve worked in CME for 25 years and want to do something fun? Also great. Maybe it’s been your lifelong dream to get a personal email from Derek and you think that this is your chance? Er, um, OK.

Please also note that if you applied for our Spring intern position and were not selected, you can send in an application once again for this fall. The questionnaire is slightly different, but still very simple to complete.

While this is an unpaid position, Derek has promised to send our CMEpalooza Fall 2020 Intern an unopened pack of Garbage Pail Kids trading cards (he’s a fan of Schizo Fran).

The application process for the CMEpalooza Fall 2020 Intern is simple and short. Fill out a brief questionnaire by clicking on this link to apply. Every answer is vitally important so please think before you respond. The application process will close on Friday, July 3, at which time a special task force will cull through the applications to select our winner. You can email us if you have any questions (our email address is on this site somewhere – you just need to find it).

Picture this: Packed live in-person/virtual meeting, lots of questions from the audience, limited time to get to them.

A voice says: “We’re sorry, but we’re out of time. If we didn’t get to your questions, please feel free to write it out, give it to one of our staff, and our faculty will address them after the session. We’ll make their responses available, um, somehow.”

But do they? Not in my experience.

Well, CMEpalooza is not like those other meetings, so when our faculty promises to “get back to everyone” with their thoughts on questions we could not address during our live sessions, they mean it! And so, today, we’re offering you additional thoughts from two of our most popular sessions last week where the questions came flooding in from the live audience:

• We Can Do It! Getting Change-Ready Ahead of the ACCME’s Updates to the Standards for Commercial Support
• Grant Request Rock!

In addition, we also had requests for slides from two other sessions. You can find those below:

• How Should the CE Industry Respond to a Novel Healthcare Crisis?
• Shiny Outcomes People

It is with a heavy heart that Derek and I wished our inaugural CMEpalooza intern Katie a bon voyage this week. Alas, we couldn’t wave from the shore as she boarded a cruise to Puerto Vallarta…

Here are Katie’s parting words for everyone.

Well, folks, all good things must come to an end!

It has been a pleasure sharing my thoughts with you all, and I hope you enjoyed CMEpalooza Spring 2020! I’ve learned a few things on this journey. For instance, Scott is awesome and Derek is, um, Derek (I kid, they are both wonderful, but Scott made me say it!)

I had CMEpalooza pulled up on my TV earlier this week, and it was great to hear what everyone had to say. I’ve been limited to my laptop and its speakers for so many weeks, which just doesn’t have the same effect, so actually being able to watch a bigger screen was a nice treat. If you missed or want to replay any of the CMEpalooza Spring 2020 sessions, they are all available online here (just click “View archive” under each session title).

While creating my farewell post, it’s impossible to not address the elephant in the room, COVID-19. It has tremendously impacted our industry. All of us are in this same boat of uncertainty, thinking about how we can help the front-line staff fighting for survival every day while also continuing the “normal business” of educating the full swath of healthcare providers. I love the quote, “Change is the only constant in life.” COVID-19 has brought a lot of change, but it has also brought opportunity. A few sessions during CMEpalooza Spring addressed ways in which their organization is adapting to our new world. With each session, there was something all of us can take away from the conversation and change about our current processes to better our programs.

The 9 a.m. session, entitled “How Should the CE Industry Respond to a Novel Healthcare Crisis,” brought the interesting perspective of a frontline provider that I hadn’t heard yet.

The 10 a.m. session talked about the proposed changes to the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support. After this session, the proposed changes don’t seem like such a shock anymore. Perhaps that’s because we’re in a shocking state in general, but if the changes are approved, we’ll have time to adjust, and in the end, it will be fine. We can do it!

The 11 a.m. session was all about OUTCOMES! They nicely tied together best practices for National Board of Medical Examiners guidelines, how to create questions, and tips on ways review your data (measurements and costs).

The noon session panelists shared their perspectives on ways to focus on behavioral change to meet outcomes and how to help physicians adopt tools to meet their educational goals and improve patient care.

The 1 p.m. session was a nice discussion where panelists shared opportunities and their expertise on how to build momentum to move forward with educational redesign.

The 2 p.m. session was a great one to listen to. Even though we don’t submit grant requests at my institution, it was interesting to hear how things go down on the grant supporter side. I also learned a new term – change of scope – and that there is an expectation to have a contingency plan in place when submitting grants.

The 3 p.m. session was Jake Powers. They did it again! I love this session. It’s a great blend of creativity and knowledge. I thought it was funny that I hadn’t heard of “change of scope” before the previous session, and then Jake Powers solved the mystery for me by providing the definition and applying it. So much better than what Google would have provided. Thank you, Jack, I mean Jake!

The 4 p.m. session is one of my favorite formats. It is nice to see real-life cases that affect our community and hear how a variety of panelists would approach each challenge. The session was split so you got to hear how the MEEC group and hospital-based group would handle different scenarios presented. (Tiger King was a hot topic… just kidding it was COVID-19)

As always, every session was great, and I really enjoyed learning from my peers. It is so important during this time to reach out to your fellow colleagues, participate in these online meetings, read online articles, and/or listen to podcasts. As it relates to the CME industry, not the news (as I’m steering clear for a bit), it makes me feel more at ease to be in the know and hear about how others are adapting to the changes.

I remind you all to take deep breaths through the moments of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety that will arise in the coming weeks and months. You are not alone.

It has been a great experience working with Scott and Derek, and I thank them for the opportunity to be part of this extraordinary community. I’m sure I’ll see you all around!

Be Well and Be Safe,

Katie O’Connell – First-Ever CMEpalooza Intern 😊