The History
Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) has been involved in the continuing education of physicians from at least the 1920s. One of the first studies that attempted to determine the impact of continuing medical education (CME) on patient care was conducted from 1929 to 1934 by John B. Youmans, MD, Director of Postgraduate Instruction at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine at that time. Since those early efforts, Vanderbilt CME has evolved through a combined GME-CME model that was prevalent during the 1930s and 1940s; the transition to "update CME" as the result of the rapid expansion of biomedical knowledge during and after World War II through the 1950s, and the individual faculty-generated approach to CME which continued into the late 1960s.
After 1968, along with other medical schools, Vanderbilt established a centralized office to manage the accreditation process introduced by the American Medical Association. The division on CME within the Office for Continuous Professional Development has been actively engaged in the certification of internal and external activities to promote provider education.
The Vision
The CME Program at Vanderbilt University Medical Center will be a critical partner in achieving the medical center’s goal of improving the health status of the public in Nashville, Davidson County, the state of Tennessee, and as appropriate, the rest of the country.
The Mission
The mission of the Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Office for Continuous Professional Development (OCPD) Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is to design accredited Continuing Education (CE) activities to support physicians’ and other healthcare professionals’ efforts to enhance competencies in patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. The accredited CE activities planned and implemented at VUMC are designed to facilitate access to evidence-based educational opportunities and professional development. This is accomplished through the provision of conferences, courses, symposia, case-based conferences, grand rounds, maintenance of certification efforts and enduring materials.