Medscape's continuing education activities currently offer various types of credit, including AMA/PRA Category 1 credit for MDs/DOs, ACPE credit for pharmacists, ANCC contact hours for nurses, APA for psychologists, and CMLE for Laboratory Technicians. All other participants will receive a letter of completion for the majority of Medscape's activities. A letter of completion includes the name of the activity, date completed, and the number of credits approved for the activity, and indicates successful completion of that activity. Many agencies and boards, including the American Nurses Credentialing Center and the American Academy of Physician Assistants, accept the letter of completion as proof of completion of a CME activity. However, for all other professions, we urge you to check directly with your licensing and/or certification agency.
Are Cardiovascular Technicians, Respiratory Therapists, Radiology Technicians, Pharmacy Technicians, Case Managers, or Registered Dietitians Eligible for CE Credit?
Currently, cardiovascular technicians, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, pharmacy technicians, case managers, and registered dietitians are not eligible to receive their specialty's CE or CME credit from Medscape. However, with the majority of Medscape activities, all professionals are eligible to receive a letter of completion, which notes the activity title, date completed, and number of CME or CE credits earned, and indicates that you have successfully completed the activity. Letters of completion may be accepted by your board or agency. You should check with the board or agency directly to be sure.
Activities that are a part of Medscape's CME/CE program are automatically entered into Medscape's database, which is created for each Medscape reader when he/she completes an initial registration. Earned certificates are stored in this personalized CME/CE Tracker as they are completed for credit. The tracker is available to all professional users. Certificates and Letters of Completion (LOC) are available to be printed as needed from this site.
NOTE: Because CME Certificates are issued in EST, users out west who take CME after midnight EST on 12/31 have certificates that display the next year rather than the current year. Please contact customer support at http://www.medscape.com/px/contactus if you have any issues with this.
The number and types of credit hours allocated to an activity can be found in 1 of 2 places, depending on how long an activity has been posted.
To print the post test go to the CME/CE activity you are interested in completing. On the right hand column click on the "Go to Test Questions" link and use the print options from your browser to print the questions.
Medscape is not registered with Florida's CE Broker. You may self-submit the credits earned on Medscape to the Broker. Activities hosted on Medscape that are approved for ANCC credit are accepted by the Florida Board of Nursing for general credit; if you wish to use a Medscape activity to fulfill the requirement for HIV/AIDS and/or domestic violence content, we suggest you check with the Board of Nursing (BON) directly regarding acceptability of a particular Medscape activity.
According to the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN) Web site, the BRN will accept continuing education courses "approved by ANCC [American Nurses Credentialing Center] approved regional accrediting bodies when these courses are taken out-of-state." (See http://www.rn.ca.gov/coned/ce-renewal.htm#acc.)
As a company registered in New York, the BRN recognizes Medscape as an out-of-state entity. Additionally, all accredited content on Medscape is provided by entities accepted by ANCC. We do suggest, however, that you check directly with the BRN for information about the acceptability of a particular activity.
Recognizing the increasing requirement by state BONs that nurses, particularly advanced practice nurses, earn a portion of their continuing education in the area of pharmacology, Medscape began in December 2005 to note this information in the accreditation statements of activities posted on our site for which Medscape is the continuing education provider. Activities that are provided by other continuing education organizations may not note this information. For information about a particular activity, simply click on the bar labeled "Accreditation Statements" in the right sidebar of the activity's first page. For example, please refer to: http://www.medscape.com/viewprogram/4914.
Beginning in the late fall of 2005, ANCC revised the Scope and Standards of Nursing Continuing Education and now allows courses of less than 1 full credit to be approved for CE credit. Although most BONs do accept ANCC credit, we suggest you check directly with your own state's BON to determine whether they will accept these partial credit offerings.
To attend the conference, you must first make sure that you have Windows Media Player or Real Player installed on your computer.
To download Real Player, go to http://uk.real.com/home/. Log in (or register at Medscape if you are not already a member) about 10-15 minutes before the event is scheduled. Click on the provided link on the top part of the homepage; you'll be taken to the site that will allow you to view the Web conference.
You can locate the Web conference from the homepage on the day of the event. Click on the activity title, which will take you to the live event.
The Web conference is available to you at no cost. You do need to register at Medscape if you are not already a member. Once you are logged on to Medscape, go to the designated link at the time of the event, and the program will open up in your Windows Media or Real Player. (There is no special or additional registration required for the Web conference for Medscape members.)
Please make sure that you have Windows Media Player or Real Player installed and are using Netscape or Internet Explorer 5.x or higher. If the activity is not visible after you have installed one of the players, you should disable your computer's pop-up blocker program or your firewall. Either of these may be blocking the program from playing.
The activity will start promptly at the scheduled time. You may want to try to log in a few minutes before it begins.
All live presentations are about 1 hour long.
The number of credits available for the activity will be posted on the day of the presentation, before it begins. One-hour programs are usually accredited for 1.0 Category 1 CME, 1.0 ACPE CE, and/or 1.2 Nursing CE. However, a final determination of credits will not be made until all materials are in and have been reviewed by the continuing education department.
Unfortunately, the complete accreditation information may not be available until the day of the event, as we are waiting for approval from various agencies. If we know in advance that accreditation is in process for particular specialties, we will publicize the activity on those particular sites and newsletters.
A group can view the presentation at the same time; however, after the presentation, each individual will need to log on to the archived version of the program with his or her own user name and password. Additional participants will not need to view the program again. After the program, when additional viewers log on, they may simply click on the Test Questions link from the right sidebar and proceed to take the posttest. (Please note: Pharmacists who take the test from the archived version of the broadcast will not receive a LIVE continuing education certificate.)
Yes, an archived version of the program will be available immediately after the live event and can be watched at another time using Windows Media Player or Real Player. Alternately, a text version will also become available a few weeks after the live program. Continuing education credits will be available for up to 1 year.
Yes, within a few weeks after the live program, a complete transcript will be available at the same site, and you may then either watch the taped presentation or read the program as text. Both options will lead to an opportunity to take the posttest and receive credits for continuing education.
Unfortunately, the program cannot be recorded by you, but you may watch it by going to our recording (at the same link) at any other time that is convenient for you. The continuing education credits will be available for a full year.
You can find the program by using the search tool available on any Medscape homepage, or you can type in the Web address of the program on your browser if it is still available to you. After the live program airs, you may also look for archived Web conferences in the CME or CE Center on your specialty site.
At the current time, there is no single place on Medscape to view a complete index of upcoming live events. However, if you are a MedPulse newsletter email subscriber, you will a see a notice in the newsletter about upcoming live events. Your specialty site will also include a notice of upcoming events.
Yes, past live events can be accessed as long as you have Windows Media Player or Real Player installed on your computer. Continuing education credits are available for 1 full year after the live event.
For further information on CME/CE activities or certification, contact Medscape at: