As a Jewish kid who grew up in the Northeast, I spent many a summer at overnight camp. Best time of my life. You get to play sports all day, eat as much sugar cereal as you want at breakfast (another bowl of Cocoa Krispies? Don’t mind if I do), and, of course, no parents telling you what to do for 8 whole weeks!

I understand that a lot of you – well, probably just about all of you – don’t get the beauty of overnight camp. I have tried explaining to my Irish Catholic wife many times how overnight camp is great for both kids and parents (another glass of wine with dinner out on a random Wednesday night? Don’t mind if I do), but I don’t know that she totally gets it.

Overnight camp was where I learned how to make a bed with hospital corners (and shoot a rifle – yes, they had a rifle range for 9-year-olds back in those days. Can you imagine?), where I found out what it means to be independent (it’s awesome), and, of course, where I kissed my first girl (thank you Maggie Cohen).

(Coming back around to make this relevant…slowly…wait for it…)

Every morning at overnight camp, we would have an assembly where one of the camp directors would tell everyone very briefly what important things were happening outside of our little world – ie, did the Phillies win last night? – and go over what sorts of activities were planned for that day. One of the things that stuck with me these many years later is his daily description.

“We have a bevy, a plethora, a cornucopia, perhaps even a mélange of activities for everyone today…”

Since I work with words, I always liked that, and it stuck with me.

(Making the connection…soon…almost…here we go…)

One of the most enjoyable things about putting together the agenda for our biannual CMEpalooza events is coming up with groups of potential faculty members. Both Derek and I have been around the CME circles for long enough that we know a goodly number of folks in the industry, and yet there are always plenty of new names and faces we are introduced to through CMEpalooza. I always look forward to building new relationships and tapping into the brainpower of a broader community as we prepare and produce our live broadcasts.

We presented our Spring agenda last week, which boasts both a bevy of sessions and a plethora of talented panelists. We made some modifications to our agenda development process this spring, and while it put a bit more of the burden onto Derek and I during the development process, we think it’ll be worth it when you join us on Wednesday, April 19. You’ll be exposed to a cornucopia of new ideas and hopefully be provided with a mélange of building blocks to improve your day-to-day experience as a CME professional.

You bring the S’mores, and I’ll provide the left-handed smoke shifter (and if you get that obscure overnight camp reference, you let me know).

Quick show of hands: Who would like to read another one of my rants about people who continue to write “CMEpalooza” incorrectly (you know who you are, by the way)?

OK…OK, nobody.

Who would like to read 5,000 words from Scott breaking down all the sessions in the CMEpalooza archive into an NCAA March Madness-style bracket, complete with a final CMEpalooza Session National Champion?

OK…OK, I see one guy in the back with his hand rai-…no…no, he was just scratching his nose.

And who would like me to just get to the agenda?

That’s what I thought. Let’s get right to the agenda then. Below is the (mostly) final agenda for CMEpalooza Spring. We might have a few edits or updates between now and April 19, but this is pretty much it. We’re really thrilled with our lineup and think it will be our best CMEpalooza, yet. Onward!

9 a.m. ET
Breakfast Session Sponsored by Prova Education
Topic and Speakers TBA

10 a.m. ET
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Learning Preferences of Healthcare Providers
How can we be sure that we are providing our audience with the best formats for learning? This session will provide answers to all our burning questions around how HCPs learn through an engaging interview with a well-respected family physician. He is a prolific educator and has advised many CME providers on the development of certified education. The interview will discuss different formats used in CME that are engaging to a HCP audience and how learners prefer to receive their education. This will then be tied to the type of data we as CME providers can glean from these different educational formats.

Moderator
Amanda Glazar, PhD, CHCP, Director, Medical Education, Kynectiv

Panelist
Paul Doghramji, MD, Family Physician, Collegeville Family Practice

11 a.m. ET
Two Scoops of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Please!
CME activities have become too vanilla. Redundancy abounds and it has become more and more difficult to differentiate one program from another. What does it take to be truly innovative? What are groups doing to separate themselves from the masses? This panel of commercial supporters will discuss what they look for in a grant proposal, the elements that make an activity stand out from the crowd, and provide examples of innovation in education that they have funded recently. Learn how to turn your vanilla program into two scoops of chocolate chip cookie dough!

Moderator
Karen Roy, MSc, Principal and Co-founder, infograph-ed, LLC, Principal, Ardgillan Group, LLC

Panelists
Angelo Carter, PharmD, Director, Grant Officer, Global Medical Grants and Research Collaborations, Pfizer
Helen Kostarides, Consultant, Medical Education Grants – Oncology, Lilly Grant Office, Eli Lilly and Company
Greselda Butler, CHCP, Senior Manager, Grants and Contributions, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical Inc.

Noon ET
Lunchtime Session Sponsored by Genentech
Forays into the Four “A’s”: Promoting Systems-Based Changes in CME
After the identification of a system-based educational gap, providers are typically challenged with Activating, Advancing, Aspiring toward and/or Allocating resources to help address and close that gap. This is the reason why The Expanded Learning Model for Systems (TELMS) was developed to serve as adjunct to existing learning models. In this session, provider representatives will provide examples of specific initiatives that tackled one or more of these challenges in a system-based setting and offer suggestions on how to avoid potential pitfalls that can trip up similarly proposed initiatives.

Moderator
John Ruggiero, PhD, Associate Director, Genentech U.S. Medical Affairs, Learning & Clinical Integration

Panelists
Donna Harris, Senior Director, US/Global Education, Med-IQ, LLC
Caroline O. Robinson, PhD, Senior Director of Learning and Analytics, Prime Education
Linda Gracie-King, Managing Partner/Co-Founder, Axis Medical Education
Matthew Frese, General Manager, MedLearningGroup
Rob Braun, Senior Director, Medscape Education
Pamela Peters, PhD, Director of Quality and Strategy, Medscape Education

1 p.m. ET
Networking with the Best of Them: How to Make Friends and Influence People
As we work to develop educational interventions that encourage our clinician learners to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams, it is pXXXrudent that we also do this within our own organizations. Within most of our organizations, networking intra-departmentally and cross-departmentally is critical, as is doing so between CE providers, industry, and other stakeholders. As such, we have all witnessed the fruit borne out when networking has been optimized and the stank of when it has not. This session will provide useful tips from seasoned CE professionals on how to make friends and influence people as we all strive to implement better CE/CPD.

Panelists
Monique Johnson, MD, CHCP, Director, Medical Affairs, Imedex
Susan Yarbrough, CHCP, Director, Continuing Professional Development, Imedex
Allison Kickel, CHCP, Senior Director, Business Development, Imedex

2 p.m. ET
What is Data Visualization and How Can I Apply It?
Is there any room for improvement in how you present data and information in a succinct and digestible fashion? For most if not all of us, the answer is YES! Providers and supporters can all benefit from the use and understanding of Data Visualization (“data viz”) techniques and tools. Visual processing plays a large role in how human beings experience the world, and the integration of visual messages that are easily interpreted with minimal cognitive stress can tremendously help in message communication. In this moderated panel, we will review some basic data viz concepts and techniques, review case studies and hear from different stakeholders in the CEHP community who have benefited from the use of data viz in their communications.

Moderator
Anne Roc, PhD, Senior Medical Director, PlatformQ Health Education

Panelists
Bhaval Shah, PhD, Principal (Creative) and Co-founder, infograph-ed, LLC
Julia Shklovskaya, MPA, Senior Manager, Independent Medical Education and Medical External Affairs, Takeda Pharmaceuticals
Lauren Welch, MA, Vice President, Outcomes and Accreditation, Med Learning Group

3 p.m. ET
Is That Compliant? Separating Fact from Fiction in Accredited CME
Can the supporter have a copy of the participant list from the program? Does the medical director who sits in the office next to mine qualify as a non-biased reviewer to resolve a conflict of interest? Can this faculty member with a conflict of interest disclosure 3 pages long serve as the course chair? What if the answer to these questions was “Yes, yes, and yes,” but at the same time “Probably not a good idea”? There is an incredible amount of misperception and misunderstanding about what does and does not comply with ACCME criteria. Much of this may be due to fear of rules that do not exist and an understandable abundance of caution. This session will explore some of the difficult-to-answer questions in CME compliance and provide clarity between what is compliant, non-compliant, and compliant-but-a-bad-idea.

Moderator
Michael Baffuto, CHCP, President, Integrity Continuing Education

Panelists
Brooke Taylor, Assistant Dean for Continuing Medical Education, Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine
Mindi Daiga, MBA, VP, CME Compliance and Operations, Pri-Med
Beth Brillinger, CHCP, Director of Accreditation, CME Outfitters, LLC

4 p.m. ET
Celebrating Our Mistakes: A Retrospective Analysis of “What Went Wrong”
We celebrate our successes in work and in life – applying for awards, highlighting our breakthroughs in grant proposals – that all help us get through the day. But it’s often in our failures that we learn the most that adapt our approaches for the future. This case-based session will retrospectively examine several “failures” of our team of presenters, providing insight into why these initiatives failed and what they and others can learn from those failures.

Moderator
Scott Bradbury, Director of E-Learning, American Academy of Pediatrics

Panelists
Mary Ales, Executive Director, Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association
Erica Klopp, Director, Continuing Education, Reading Health System
Ellen L. Cohen, Cert.Ed., Dip.Ed., CHCP, Director, CME Accreditation & Maintenance of Certification at American College of Cardiology

With all of the hullabaloo at CMEpalooza headquarters regarding Monday morning’s drawing for the winner of our Spring Company Spotlight, it has come to my attention that I forgot to inform everyone of the lucky winner. It was Global Academy for Medical Education. Congrats, folks.

If you are desperate need of entertainment this morning, you can watch a replay of the drawing here. Derek is a weird shade of blue as he has his usual technological struggles.

Our external monitors from PricewaterhouseCoopers are just out of the picture over my left shoulder, but they have signed an attestation as to the winning entry. There apparently is some sort of controversy that has nothing to do with CMEpalooza regarding the work of these folks, but rest assured that their signature on a piece of paper means a lot to us!

More info coming soon on exactly what this Spotlight event is all about and when it will be held.