5 Reasons Pediatricians should Attend a Medical CME Conference

Paulina White
4 min readFeb 16, 2018

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Medical CME (Continuing Medical Education) conferences play a major role in the current education of physicians, nurses, technicians, and all types of healthcare providers. Apart from keeping physicians abreast of the recent changes and developments in the medical field, these conferences serve a myriad purpose. Medical CME conferences help physicians in improving their overall skill set and also presents them an opportunity to interact and communicate with peers and key opinion leaders of the work field. If the conferences arrange for workshops, health care providers also get a hands-on opportunity to try out new equipment and treatment techniques before adopting them in their day-to-day practice.

Importance of Medical CME Conferences for Pediatricians

The medical world of pediatrics is rapidly evolving which has made CME conferences more of a necessity than a luxury. Apart from earning the much valued CME credits, pediatricians get a golden opportunity to learn about the new additions or changes in their field of practice. A medical CME conference for pediatrics is a refreshing approach to imparting new information to healthcare providers. These symposiums allow pediatricians to update themselves with current research and also learn from the experiences of their colleagues.

A medical CME conference for pediatricians serves as a unique platform for sharing information on the highest possible standard of practice, along with the development and learning of new skills and techniques.

For instance, Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs (MAPS) will be hosting the MAPS Spring 2018, Functional and Translational Medicine Conference in California in March. The keynote address will talk about Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS), and will highlight the latest findings and treatment techniques in respect to these two disorders.

Undoubtedly, the discussion will help pediatricians improve the quality of their treatment and provide better aid to kids under their care.

Benefits of Attending Medical CME Conferences:

Medical CME conferences are beneficial for pediatricians for a number of reasons. Discussed below in detail are five most important benefits of attending a medical CME conference.

  1. New Information and Treatment Approaches:

Medicine is a profession, where one cannot afford to get stuck in a rut. It is one of the branches of science which is advancing rapidly, making it more difficult for doctors to keep up with the deluge of new information every single day.

For a practising pediatrician, it is difficult to grasp all the new information as it disseminates. A medical CME conference offers them the chance to bring themselves up-to-date with the occurrences in the work field in terms of emergence of new treatment plans, changes in medical policy as well as modes of healthcare delivery.

2. Prevention of Physician Burnout:

Burnout is a common psychological term used to refer to emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion due to constant work pressure. These feelings are accompanied with a sense of detachment and incompetence. The person feeling burned out tends to dislike his/her job which they used to enjoy at one point in time.

Archives of Internal Medicine in a 2012 study stated that the occurrence of burnout has increased among physicians to an appalling level. A burned out physician is incapable of giving the right treatment to his/her patients as they are mentally and emotionally unstable to diagnose the problem. Medical CME conferences are seen as an excellent opportunity to prevent burnout as it offers the physicians a chance to take a constructive break from “work.” The convention will be a relaxing change from the monotony and pressure of work and can serve as an excellent platform to sharpen skills.

3. Peer Networking Opportunities:

Meeting old colleagues and connecting with new people from the same profession is one of the many benefits of attending a medical CME conference. Such a social and relaxed setting serves as an excellent opportunity to associate with other physicians and exchange notes on changing disease patterns and different practice trends. These impromptu interactions broaden one’s perspective and help the pediatrician to employ innovative care techniques for children with special needs.

4. Facilitation of Discussions:

Medical CME conferences facilitate and encourage discussions between attendees and panelists present in the event. This ensures that the topic of discussion is understood in detail and all aspects of the subject matter are scrutinized from various angles. One can strike up such impromptu conversations at any time during the event, over lunch or dinner, and can keep up the communication via social media or emails. These discourses help in sorting out major issues and can also turn into valuable life lessons.

5. Understanding New and Modified Regulations:

The constantly changing nature of medicine more often than not forces policymakers to draft new regulations or update the present ones. Many a times pediatricians miss these small developments and stay ignorant of important changes in treatment or care policy. Even if they get notified about the new additions or changes in the rules, it might happen that they are unable to grasp the core idea of the directive, misinterpret or misunderstand it. Many medical CME conferences talk about these changes and modifications in detail, informing and advising physicians as to how to adopt them smoothly in their daily practice.

The Bottom Line:

Medical CME conferences are an excellent combination of work and pleasure. Apart from valuable contribution to the knowledge bank, such symposiums are also a great platform to build up professional camaraderie with fellow professionals. The numerous benefits, one receives from these conventions, strictly justify the costs required for registering in such conferences. Thus, take a break from your daily practice and use it to enhance your skill set and knowledge base by attending a medical CME conference.

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Paulina White

Having chosen to be a psychiatrist I find it really exciting to write about the progress medical science is making in the field of the human brain.