Macy Foundation Chairman’s Executive Summary

Wow. The Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation Chairman’s summary of the “Continuing Education in Health Professions:Improving Healthcare Through Lifelong Learning” sure created some furor during the recent meeting of the Alliance for Continuing Medical Education – some reasonable and some downright irrational.

Some stakeholders in CME have already drawn conclusions about the credibility of the report. Some have developed a litany of of reasons as to why the report is not to be taken seriously. Others have tried to distance their organizations from the report and the recommendations. I am aware of only one organization indicating they intend to learn from what is in the report and use it to inform them about how they can improve their services.

What has been released is not the final report, so it seems imprudent to draw any final conclusions about the report or about the reports recommendations. We need the final report so we can carefully examine the substance of the papers and the data that purportedly supports the groups recommendations. But that doesn’t mean we just sit and wait. The Chairman’s summary includes a number of actionable items and suggestions that can be addressed right now. Why wait?

In responding to reports presented by those in attendance at the Macy Foundation meeting, Mike Saxton challenged the group to do something now and not wait until the full report. I think Mike is right.

Many of the issues discussed in the report have been vetted for years. It is time for action. The question is who will lead the effort.

Any suggestions?