AOA may have ACCME accreditation by end of year

The AOA is pursuing Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) accreditation, which, if obtained, means that continuing medical education courses offered by AOA will be accepted by American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and AOA certifying boards.

The AOA is in the pre-application process with ACCME and plans to submit its initial application by the end of July. A final decision by ACCME could be reached at the end of this year.

When AOA courses have ACCME accreditation, DOs who are board certified by the ABMS will be able to complete AOA CME courses for credit.

“It would give our physicians the opportunity to attend programs that give them the best educational content for their needs, and they will not have to worry about the type of CME credit they’ll get,” says Gautam Desai, DO, chair of the AOA Council on CME.

DOs who are dually boarded will be able to complete AOA CME courses and simultaneously apply the credits they get to both of their boards.

“We want to attract more people to our programs, and getting ACCME accreditation is one way to move that objective forward,” says Kenya McRae, AOA vice president of research and development.

Many affiliate organizations, such as osteopathic state and specialty societies and DO schools, have expressed interest in offering ACCME-accredited courses. If the AOA achieves ACCME accreditation, it plans to provide both AOA and ACCME accreditation to these organizations’ CME offerings.

“It will permit us to reach out to not only allopathic-boarded DOs but also to allopathic physicians who are interested in programs put on through osteopathic providers,” Dr. Desai says.

In obtaining ACCME accreditation, the AOA will join 28 other osteopathic organizations, which include colleges, foundations, hospitals and professional associations, that are authorized to provide ACCME-accredited CME.