Mission Statement

Office of Continuing Medical Education
College of Medicine
Medical University of South Carolina

Our Mission

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is South Carolina’s only comprehensive academic health sciences system. Our purpose is to preserve and optimize human life in South Carolina and beyond. MUSC provides an interprofessional environment for learning, discovery, and healing through (1) education of health care professionals and biomedical scientists, (2) research in the health sciences, and (3) provision of comprehensive health care. 2025 Strategy

Purpose of the University

Founded in 1824 and located in Charleston, the university is a public institution of higher education comprising six colleges: Medicine, Dental Medicine, Health Professions, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Graduate Studies. More than 3,000 students who reflect the diversity of the community MUSC serves study for degrees at the baccalaureate, masters, and doctoral levels. Academic programs employ both traditional and distance education methods. MUSC leads the state in biomedical research and is in the top 20% of health science institutions nationally for funding from the National Institutes of Health.

Approved by Commission on Higher Education: May 27, 2021

The MUSC Office of Continuing Medical Education (CME) plays an integral role in this proposal by providing quality continuing medical education and continuing professional development in order to improve patient safety and enhance clinical outcomes by identifying and decreasing gaps between current clinical practices and optimal evidence based health care. Priorities in health care are based on the unique needs of the citizens in our community, state and region.

Purpose

The MUSC Office of CME is committed to supporting the lifelong learning process of physicians and other health care providers by providing high quality educational opportunities designed to advance the quality and safety of patient care in South Carolina by enhancing learner competence and practice performance. The MUSC Office of CME is a strategic and organizational resource in the creation and development of continuing education activities for physicians, health care professionals and interprofessional teams. Through collaborative relationships with university departments and organizations within our state and region, the MUSC Office of CME is able to provide leadership in achieving improved health care outcomes.

Content Areas

Based on gaps in health care in the state of South Carolina and other southeastern states, MUSC CME activities address primary care, specialty and subspecialty content areas across the various disciplines of medicine. Our educational activities are drawn from evidence-based knowledge originating in basic medical sciences, clinical disciplines, public health, behavioral medicine and preventive medicine. The MUSC Office of CME is committed to continuous monitoring of content areas to provide educational content that is scientifically rigorous, balanced, objective, and independent of commercial influence. An important component of our CME activities includes the core competencies of the ACGME/ABMS, IOM, and IPEC competencies, where appropriate.

Target Audience

Physicians and other health care professionals of the Medical University of South Carolina, the affiliated health care systems, the state of South Carolina and the southeast region, along with those participating in our regional, national, and international activities.

Types of Activities Provided

The CME activities offered include regularly scheduled series, performance improvement activities, conferences, and symposia. Enduring materials include online activities accessed through our website. The MUSC Office of CME also partners with organizations to jointly provide educational activities with selected non-accredited entities such as state, regional, and national societies.

Expected Results of the Program

The MUSC Office of CME uses a gap-analysis approach to needs assessments to provide quality CME activities designed to enhance learner’s knowledge, competence, performance, and/or patient outcomes:

  • Knowledge: Post-test evaluations and use of audience response systems on activity content are used to measure what learners know as a result of participating in the activity
  • Competence: Self-reported planned changes to practice, recognition of barriers to make changes, identification of specific planned actions that include commitment to change (CTC) and participation in case studies and focused simulation experiences measure the learner's ability to put knowledge into action.
  • Performance: Follow-up surveys addressing whether learners implemented changes, and assessments of performance in practice following performance improvement activities measure learners' application of knowledge, skills, and behaviors into practice.
  • Patient Outcomes: Assessment of state-wide or regional performance in practice documentation reflects changes in health care professionals and team performance that positively impacts specific populations. 

The MUSC Office of CME continually works to develop better methods for measuring outcomes for use with educational activities and initiatives. Policies are enforced to ensure activities are free of commercial bias and independent of commercial influence.

Approved by: College of Medicine CME Advisory Committee
Bill Basco, MD, Associate Dean for Continuing Medical Education

May 11, 2022