The Commission on Continuing Professional Development works directly to support the AAFP's Strategic Objective on continuing professional development by supporting the lifelong learning of family physician members and other healthcare professionals. The goals of the commission are to guide the AAFP's Credit System and the AAFP’s provision of continuing medical education that helps members and other healthcare professionals demonstrate continuous improvement in knowledge, competence, practice performance, and patient outcomes, as well as fulfill the educational requirements for licensure and certification.
The COCPD’s priority areas of attention include:
- AAFP CME Accreditation (of various credit categories)
a. Oversee periodic review of AAFP CME credit requirements to reaffirm or if appropriate, recommend changes or enhancements to said requirements.
b. Oversee the review of applications for AAFP CME credit, to evaluate whether the application for credit should be approved or denied.
c. Interact with other entities when appropriate to collaborate on matters pertaining to scope of work, such as educational aspects of the AAFP’s requirements for membership re-election.
- Development, presentation, maintenance, and refinement of existing and novel CME/CPD delivery methods and modalities.
- CME/CPD aspects of Continuing Board Certification (formerly Maintenance of Certification) and Maintenance of Licensure (MOL, including self-assessment and lifelong learning, assessment of knowledge and skill, and improvement of performance in practice. This can include discussion and collaboration with colleagues affiliated with other accreditation systems, regulatory entities, certifying and licensing boards and other oversight bodies.
- AAFP CME / CPD Educational Strategy and Plan. The plan defines the scope of topics for which educational activities are designed, to ensure that AAFP CME activities are evidence-based and designed to address gaps in professional practice performance as determined through needs assessments conducted as a fundamental part of CME activity planning.
- Oversight of the planning, provision, and evaluation of all AAFP-provided CME activities, including sessions offered through the Family Medicine Experience (FMX) annual meeting, national courses, procedure workshops, journals and subscriptions, and other means.
Commission Service Overview
Members serve a two-year term with an option for one two-year extension. Members of the COCPD meet twice each year, January or February in-person along with other commissions in Kansas City, and June virtually. COCPD members also participate throughout the year in fulfilling the commission’s responsibilities. This can include document review and discussion via social media; participation in conference calls, webinars, and various work groups; representation of the commission on AAFP’s cross-commission committees, and so on, as needed.
Note: The COCPD Executive Committee (specifically, the chair and 3rd or 4th year commission members), will be independent of conflicts of interest during their time of tenure as defined in the AAFP Policy “COCPD Leaders and CME Activity Leads have no COI.”
Reimbursement
The Commission on Finance and Insurance establishes reimbursement policies for commission members. Members are reimbursed:
- A per diem payment when traveling or attending meetings or other events on behalf of the commission.
- Actual travel expenses up to the cost of the lowest refundable coach airfare as well as parking for personal autos and/or transportation between home and airport and airport and meeting sites.
Interested?
If you are interested in nominating yourself for this commission:
- Contact your chapter prior to starting your application.
- Complete the online Commission Nomination Form (available July 15-October 15 each year).
If you are interested in nominating yourself for commission chair (in your final year of service on the commission):
- Contact your chapter prior to starting your application.
- Complete the online Commission Chair Nomination Form (available May 15-August 15 each year).
You can access the Commission Resource Manual for more information here.