Committees

What is the mission of the Continuing Education Committee?

The mission of the Continuing Education Committee is to sponsor and/or promote high quality, multidisciplinary educational opportunities (aside from AACPDM's annual meeting) for healthcare professionals, both Academy members and non-members alike, who serve the developmentally disabled.

What are the Committee’s current aims?

The Committee currently has two main goals: (1) To partner in sponsoring three 1-day multidisciplinary tutorials in different parts of the country which will target Academy members or non-members who serve the unique healthcare needs of the developmentally disabled. (2) To archive on this website and promote audio or video recordings of at least three high quality “Grand Rounds” presentations on various, focused topics which can be accessed by members and non-members alike. These may include highly rated presentations from previous annual meetings or an online journal club/interview with an author of a recently published and noteworthy peer-reviewed scientific article.

What are Grand Rounds?

These are 1-hour web-based presentations on focused topics of interest to select sectors of our membership and the healthcare community at large. They are put on by invited experts in their specialty area. These were previously offered as live webinars (later archived), but the lack of flexibility in viewing times generally led to poor attendance during the live event. Thus, these will now be recorded in advance and posted to this website for viewing at listeners' convenience at http://www.aacpdm.org/education/lectures/. Grand Rounds may include highly rated or sold-out sessions offered at a previous AACPDM national meeting. They may also include podcast discussions/interviews with authors of recently published, peer-reviewed scientific papers thought to be of particular significance to our membership. These may be accessed by non-members and members, though non-members may have to pay a small fee to do so.

Can I receive continuing education credits for watching Grand Rounds?

The Academy does not currently have plans to make continuing education credits available for these one-hour seminars. However, members may refer to their individual state licensing boards to determine if credit may be received for watching web-based seminars of this nature and what the process is to apply.

What happened to the monthly one-hour live Grand Rounds webcasts that the Academy previously offered?

These were discontinued by Academy leadership in March 2009 secondary to financial constraints and poor viewership. They are being replaced by less frequent (3 per year) pre-recorded presentations which will be archived for viewing on demand rather than live. Several of the past webcasts which were originally done live are archived on the website for viewing at your convenience at http://www.aacpdm.org/education/lectures/.

Can I suggest ideas or speakers for Tutorials or Grand rounds?

Absolutely. We value your input. Simply e-mail your idea(s) for topics and speakers in 120 words or less to Committee Chair, Kristen Krosschell at k-krosschell@northwestern.edu.

How does the Academy finance Grand Rounds and Tutorials?

The Academy currently has $10,000 of a larger grant from Medtronic corporation earmarked, in part, for use in creating two internet-based Grand Rounds seminars relating to spasticity. These funds expire in summer 2010 but may be used for editing and archiving, for instance, material presented at the last annual meeting into a Grand Rounds ready webcast. The Academy leadership will likely seek other similar grants in the future for use in continuing education.

Can I earn continuing education credits for courses I attend at the AACPDM annual meeting?

Yes. CEU/CME credits are available on-site for physicians, as well as physical and occupational therapists. Those individuals from other disciplines can generally earn credit by following the requirements spelled out by your individual state licensing board for your discipline.