20 Best Websites to Find Continuing Education
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Even after you graduate and land a job in the healthcare industry, it’s important to remember that lifelong learning is critical to your success as a health professional. When your level of skill and training will ultimately impact your community’s health and well-being, it’s important that you proactively seek out opportunities that will allow you to keep up with your rapidly evolving field.
As part of this ever-growing quest to supplement your skills and training, Continuing Medical Education (CME) is critical to healthcare providers. From doctors to nurses, paramedics to EMTs, CME courses can help practitioners learn new ways to improve their ability to deliver patient care and build a thriving career in an ever-evolving industry like medicine.
Through CME programs, you can also ensure that you stay up to date with the latest advances in your specialty. They can help you address real-world challenges that healthcare professionals consistently face. As you earn credits, this professional growth helps boost your career, meet licensing requirements, hone additional medical management skills, and earn memberships in different professional medical organizations.
From advances in technology to changing industry regulations, it’s clear how continuing education in healthcare offers immense value for professionals. Thankfully, there are numerous CME programs and courses that you can access online. To help you out, here’s a collection of some of the best websites that demonstrate the value of continuing education through useful industry courses:
1. Coursera
Coursera offers CME-eligible focused programs designed to help healthcare professionals master a specific subject or skill in the field. You have the option to complete just a single course, as well as pausing and returning to it if you find the program conflicts with your current schedule. Every course includes a hands-on project that allows you to apply the skills learned in the course. Upon completion, you’re given a certificate that can be shared with prospective employers and add to your credentials.
2. CEUFast
CEUFast is a nationally accredited provider of continuing nursing education. The site has a collection of over 200 peer-reviewed courses across a range of topics, including a lot of state-required courses. Not only is there a wide range of options, the site also consistently refreshes its program offerings. The site offers unlimited annual access for a fixed amount, which gives access to their whole course library. Conveniently, their site is also designed to provide a seamless web experience where you can view courses on your preferred devices.
3. MedPage Today
MedPage Today’s affiliated educational partners offer a great collection of articles and references that can be read by health professionals to earn continuing medical education credits. You have to be a member to access their full range of articles. Topics include a variety of specialties—from oncology to neurology, rheumatology to cardiology. Credit scores are indicated per article and the site also offers a credit tracker.
4. MedScape
Medscape is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education. This means they’re a credible resource for continuing education that complies with the stringent standards and codes of the industry. Medscape is a great resource; nurses get free access to programs that offer continuing nursing credits and development courses once they register. This gives them access to the latest research and medical reports, even career information.
5. Nurse.com
The great thing about this platform is that courses available on Nurse.com are developed by nurses and other healthcare professionals specifically for nurses. The site is accredited by the ANCC, ACCME, and ACPE, which ensures that all their programs are industry-leading and credible courses that add real value to your training. The site allows you to take self-paced and mobile-friendly courses that highlight a comprehensive learning experience and guarantee clinical proficiency and professional development.
6. Cardio Village
Accredited by ACCME, Cardio Village offers CME specifically for the field of cardiovascular medicine. It provides access to over a hundred online and mobile-friendly courses designed to be clinically relevant and challenging. Each course offered on this site is created by board-certified internal medicine physicians with expertise and experience in providing and improving patient care. The site requires an annual subscription to access and also offers regular updates to its courses.
7. Cleveland Center for Continuing Education
With the intent to provide high-quality educational programs that support the professional growth and knowledge of healthcare practitioners, Cleveland Center for Continuing Education ensures access to numerous accredited courses. Programs are designed to increase skill level and expertise that will allow for improved patient outcomes. What makes the site stand out is that they also offer live courses delivered by top-tier faculty members across different areas of interest. This format supports peer interaction, hands-on workshops, and even live demonstrations.
8. HEALWA
HEALWA is a site that operates in partnership with the Washington State Department of Health and offers accessible clinical and educational resources for eligible healthcare professionals. To determine if you are eligible to access their site, you can simply review their list here. The platform offers access to toolkits, databases, ebooks, journals, and news archives that can help support your pursuit for continuing education as a healthcare professional.
9. CME List
CME List is an online platform that makes it easy for healthcare professionals to search CME-accredited courses online, whether they be audio-based, conferences, or online programs. The site allows you to search by specialty, profession, or topic so you can easily find the credits you are looking for.
10. Prime
Prime is a straightforward online resource for accredited CME courses across a variety of topics, specializations, and formats. It offers selections from live courses to online programs, all accredited by the ACCME. The site is easy to navigate, with each course clearly stating how many credits you earn for completing the program.
11. Medical Education Resources
Recognized as one of the top providers of continuing medical education, Medical Education Resources (MER) is a non-profit organization offering a range of accredited CME programs for healthcare practitioners, specifically physicians, nurses, and pharmaceutical professionals. Membership to the website is free. The site also offers numerous program accreditations specifically for office-based medical and healthcare professionals.
12. American College of Physicians
American College of Physicians is a nationally recognized organization for internal medicine practitioners with a goal of providing continuing education to physicians across a wide range of topics. Access to their courses can be done through an annual membership. After signing up, they get access to member-discounted CME options as well as free courses. Credits can be earned through attendance of online workshops and live seminars, and by completing online courses.
13. Relias Media
Relias Media offers CME programs focused on clinical medicine, hospital management, general health care, and emergency medicine. They have a wide range of course offerings designed to boost the competence and performance of healthcare practitioners. Their courses are designed to be relevant and are regularly updated. The platform is a subscription-based site and requires an annual fee to gain access to a tremendous amount of award-winning medical content.
14. myCME
myCME is an online repository of CME courses developed by a private group. Their platform is designed to be easy to navigate and is organized according to specialty, profession, and disease. Notably, the site also offers a physician assistant’s hub that provides free continuing medical education courses. Content is regularly updated, ensuring that courses and material are up to date.
myCME is recognized as a global frontrunner of CME, given its extensive range of engaging, relevant, and actionable courses and programs for healthcare professionals. Their goal is to improve physician performance and patient outcomes through programs that are current, relevant, and timely.
yCME works closely with prominent academic institutions, medical organizations, associations, and societies to create their programs and ensure the quality of their courses. The site lets you access hundreds of ACCME accredited courses in various medical specialties, with options to search based on clinical interests, specialty, and profession. They also grade tests and issue certificates for completed CME credits immediately, and allow you to track your progress.
15. Stanford Medicine
Stanford Center for Continuing Medical Education is a globally recognized frontrunner for lifelong learning programs and courses for healthcare professionals. Their online courses are designed to be engaging and innovative. Their comprehensive course offerings include games as well as videos that healthcare professionals can access anytime. Courses are created by Stanford faculty and staff, following the school’s well-known exceptional standards.
16. Harvard Medical School
Harvard Medical School offers a full range of CME courses, conferences, and workshops—live and online. The online program is the university’s biggest learning program that can be accessed by professionals nationwide. Courses are focused on various specialties and include interactive options that can be accessed on demand. They are also known for their virtual events featuring experts in the healthcare field and master clinicians.
17. American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is known for providing access to CME courses for physicians. The organization sets stringent standards for ethics and education. Their full range of CME programs is accessible if you have an AMA membership.
18. Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) is a non-profit organization tasked to provide accreditation for institutions that want to offer CME training for healthcare professionals. Their website makes it easy to search for ACCME accredited providers, providing details such as contact information and location. Users can search for local CME providers from all over the country.
19. Practice Point CME
Practice Point CME is a site dedicated specifically to providing CME for healthcare providers. The company partners with accredited medical centers that help design and develop CME programs and courses across different specialty areas. Content is uploaded regularly and delivered by skilled national and local educators.
20. HCI College
HCI College is best known for being an institution focused on providing certificate and full degree courses for nurses and emergency responders. Given their focus and proficiency in this field, it’s not surprising that HCI College also provides CME courses in their specific area of expertise. In addition to their core programs, HCI College offers continuing education for Prehospital Trauma Life Support at basic, advanced, and combined levels via an online, web-based instruction format. A Paramedic and EMT Refresher course is available, as are Basic ECG programs.
Working in an industry that is constantly evolving and changing due to advances in technologies, the discovery of new techniques, and consistent evolution means your quest for knowledge as a healthcare professional continues after earning your degree.
As a medical practitioner, you will have to embrace the idea of lifelong learning. These sites are designed to provide access to a rich repository of resources and educational tools that can help boost your career and improve your ability to deliver exceptional patient care. To advance your career and maintain your competitive edge, you need to actively pursue training and education opportunities. Each of these sites and platforms is designed to deliver high-quality training and make it significantly easier for you to earn your CME credits from accredited institutions.
Choosing the right programs to supplement your career doesn’t have to be complicated. However, it pays to familiarize yourself with all your options. Be sure to select a provider that offers a diverse collection of courses in your medical niche to ensure growth within your specialty and further career advancement.
Whether you’re seeking CME credits to supplement your education or to pursue license renewals, keep in mind that the additional training you receive is ultimately for the benefit of the patients you will be working with. Any effort that you put into building your skills as a medical practitioner will pay off significantly because it goes back to both you and the people you serve.
Author Bio
Jessica Williams is a marketing professional for HCI College, a school dedicated to preparing students for a career in the medical field by offering programs such as Nursing, EMT, and Paramedical services. The institution is best known for its practical approach to learning that propels students from theoretical classroom instruction and forwards them into the workforce.
We regularly share news, trends, and insights about the industry on the official HCI blog. Do connect with us on twitter@hcicollege.