CME resources VS certified medical educators

[cdcd67]

Hi guys, I was thinking of attending a PANRE review conference; specifically I was looking into CME resources and certified medical educators. I was thinking of attending the 3 day conference. Has anyone been to either of these conferences? Are either of them worth the money? 

I saw some old posts on this but they were from a while ago and not many replies

Hoping to get a better idea.

Thank you!

[gbrothers98]

I have attended in person Certified Medical Educators and had it streamed to the clinical cohorts I was responsible for 3 years in a row. Have not attended CME resources, though several prior students had.

Worth the money is a loaded question. 20 years ago, I attended the Yale PANCE review as a an overall brush up on medical knowledge. It was also good to be with a large group of folks that were all in the same boat together to have discussion and commiserate. At the least, these conferences provide a boost of confidence prior to the exam. If you can afford, attend what is available schedule wise.

Since, I have attended and worked with Certified Medical Educators in the past, I can state that Mike Nowak, the PA that owns/runs the conferences is very available and hands on. He provides quite a bit of the instruction and the adjunct faculty he engages are well received. CertMedEd also offers a streaming version from the live conferences, a $ saver for the soon to graduate PA student. CME resources sticks with the live onsite conference attendance model, so you are on the hook for travel and lodging unless you live near a location.

Good luck.

George

[CardioPAWC]

I attended the 5 day CME resources conference for my first recert about 6 years ago, and then attended the 3 day recert course in Feb of this year. I felt the 5 day had me better prepared but by the 5th day of sitting 9-10 hours and trying to absorb all this info that I hadn't seen or practiced for many years, I don't know how much I retained by those last couple of days. I took the exam ~3wks later and passed.

The 3 day course was better suited for me this year w/kids, work, etc. Going into the 3 day course I had high hopes that it would teach me all I needed to know and that I'd only have to study minimally leading up to the exam. What I can say at this point is that the 3 day did help prepare me, but it was a very very quick overview of everything. I appreciated having the binder of lectures, all of which were better organized/laid out than 6 years prior. And it was helpful to hear everything and have the speakers point out things that we should definitely know, and provide vignettes about patients w/certain illnesses to help remember those things. I still had to study on my own a considerable amount.

All in all, 3 or 5 day course was worth it. I took the exam about 3 weeks after the course and just found out that I passed (yay!!!). I also signed up for rosh review a month prior to the exam, which I feel was integral to my passing the exam. 

BTW my coworker went to the certified medical educators and she felt it was really helpful as well. But she had never been to CME resources so unfortunately I can't compare the two directly. Good luck in deciding!