Continuing Medical Education
Continuing Medical Education (CME)
Serving Physicians’ Needs
Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific (COMP) is accredited by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Educations (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians.
As an AOA and ACCME approved CME provider, COMP offers a variety of opportunities each year to refine your skills and meet your ongoing AOA and ACCME Board Certification requirements administered by WesternU faculty and other physician experts.
In addition to our live and virtual courses, we work closely with the Harriet K. & Philip Pumerantz Library to find resources that provide Continuing Education credits.
COMP Annual CME Events
COMP hosts bi-annual Alumni CME conferences that award Category 1A/1 CME credit:
WESTERNU COMP WINTER CME EVENT
We are pleased to provide the following CME opportunities for the WesternU COMP WINTER CME EVENT. Event proceeds go towards initiatives to support our students and programs at WesternU. There are two offerings, in-person and virtual:
**If you are celebrating one of the decades of being a WesternU Alumni (10, 20, 30 or 40 years; Graduation Years: 1984, 1994, 2004, 2014), the Virtual Workshop is COMPLIMENTARY for you, please reach out to ICME@westernu.edu with your graduation year for registration.
- A) LIVE IN-PERSON Workshops (Saturday, December 7, 2024 8:30am-1:00pm PST): This live in-person event is held at our Pomona campus and is eligible for 4AOA / ACCME Category 1A/1 CME credits. A complimentary continental breakfast and lunch with our medical students is included. FEES: $200/WesternU Alumni or $250/General Attendee. Includes both workshops. Limited capacity event.
IN-PERSON HANDS-ON WORKSHOPS are:
- SIMULATION LAB: Abdominal Pain Differential Diagnosis and Procedure Task Training | Dr. Joachim Brown, DO (Hands-On Workshop with SIM Equipment featuring: Ultrasound, Thoracentesis, Paracentesis, Central Line, Lumbar Puncture)
- OMT for Common Complaints in Primary Care | Dr. Brian Loveless, DO (Hands-On Workshop)
- B) LIVE Virtual ZOOM CME Workshop (Sunday December 8, 2024 6:30pm-8:30pm PST): This event is eligible for 2AOA /ACCME Category 1A/1 CME credits.FEES: $35/WesternU Alumni or $50/General Attendee.
VIRTUAL WORKSHOP:
- Providing Intervention to Individuals with Acute Mental Health or Substance Use Challenge | Dr. Tina Lekas, OTD, MS, OTR/L, MHFA
Registration is available until 11/24/24. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!
(if the link has issues go to: https://commerce.cashnet.com/CMEEvent )
The following items are resources that can assist physicians with fulfilling their CME requirements:
Current faculty or staff can obtain AMA PRA Category 1 Credits through two resources at the Harriet K & Philip Pumerantz Library: DynaMed and UpToDate. More information can be found on the DynaMed and UpToDate CME pages.
Alumni may access DynaMed and ejournals from on-campus when the library reopens.
There are also some e-journals that offer free CMEs. For more information on how to obtain these continuing education credits, please contact reference@westernu.edu or Chat with a Librarian
Rewarding experience educating students and earning CME credits at the same time. Many of these activities can take place in your practice location
Physicians can participate as a “preceptor” for our medical students during clerkship rotations. Each preceptor can earn 1 CME credit for each hour spent teaching the student. (4 week rotation = 160 hours of CME). CME information is extracted from the “Student Performance Evaluation Form” submittied by each physician upon completetion of a rotation.
DO’s: Receive Category 1B CME for their participation as a Preceptor. A report is submitted to the AOA on their behalf on a quarterly basis. An official CME letter is available upon request.
MD’s: Receive Category 2 CME for their participation as a Preceptor. An official CME letter is distributed to all MD’s. They can also use these letters to “self-report” their CME to their respective associations.
For more information on becoming a Preceptor, please contact Colleen Galindo at (909) 469-5477 or cgalindo@westernu.edu
We are recognized by the AOA for Accredited Category 1 CME (pdf file)
AOA CME Opportunities
All members of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), other than those exempted, are required to participate in the Continuing Medical Education (CME) program and to meet specified CME credit hour requirements for the current CME cycle.
To help physicians maintain, develop and increase the knowledge, skills and professional performance and relationships they use to provide services for patients, the public and the profession, the AMA offers physician resources that include a wide range of continuing medical education (CME) activities that foster physician lifelong learning.
The CME List offers a specialty categorized list of websites that offer AMA-approved CME online.
Grievances shall be submitted via email to: ICME@westernu.edu. All grievances will receive an initial response in writing within 30 days of receipt.
The CME Sponsor will review all grievances and resolve if possible. If no resolution is possible, the CME Sponsor may then pass the information on to Dean Lisa Warren for resolution.
If the Dr. Warren is unable to resolve the grievance she may then pass the grievance on to the CME Committee and if no resolution can be made the grievance will then be presented to the full Board of Trustees.
Further appeals shall be addressed to the Bureau of Osteopathic Education of the AOA at: 142 E. Ontario St., Chicago, IL 60611-2864.
Contact Us
If you are interested in participating in a COMP or COMP-Northwest CME activity, please contact:
- Dr. Tina Lekas, Executive Director, Institute of Continuum Medical Education (ICME) ICME@westernu.edu