How’s your stockpile of continuing education credits looking? As nurse practitioners, we must complete a certain number of hours of continuing education in order to comply with licensure and certification requirements. Fitting these hours in around work and other commitments can be difficult. So, why not complete them during your commute?
Many of us spend hours each week in the car. Using this time effectively can make a big difference, and prevent that last minute CME scramble come time to renew your nurse practitioner license. The following continuing education resources offer audio learning opportunities, perfect for NPs on-the-go.
1. Primary Care RAP
Primary Care RAP is a monthly audio continuing medical education program. No, the program doesn’t serve up hip-hop beats, ‘RAP’ stands for Reviews and Perspectives. Each month, the program provides 3.5 hours of continuing education credit. Limited content, as well as a first episode of this podcast are offered free of charge. A full subscription to monthly podcasts as well as access to the data base of past audio sessions can be purchased for $195/year.
2. Cleveland Clinic Center for Continuing Education
The Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Continuing Education offers a robust database of CME opportunities. Many of these offerings, such as webcasts, are in audio format. If you’re looking for a way to pass the time on your morning drive in to the clinic, play one of Cleveland Clinic’s presentations to make your time behind the wheel more productive. Skip the visuals that accompany the audio while you’re on the road, of course.
3. Reach MD
Reach MD is a library of videos, audio sound bites, and medical articles. While not all of the site’s content qualifies for continuing education credit, activities that do fulfill CME requirements are flagged and easily identified. Reach MD offers continuing education for a variety of medical specialties making it a go-to resource for nurse practitioners in all fields of healthcare.
4. myCME
myCME posts video continuing education content relating to a number of medical specialties. Most content on the site is free. Learning opportunities that require a fee to access are clearly marked. myCME is geared towards physician assistants and nurse practitioners making content particularly relevant to advanced practice providers.
5. American Seminar Institute
If you’re looking for a straightforward, jam-packed continuing education resource, check out the American Seminar Institute. While the cost of CME materials is similar to that of continuing education conferences, these audio presentations are full of relevant medical information for nurse practitioners. Each seminar package awards up to 20 educations credit hours. The American Seminar Institute offers courses for a number of specialties so nurse practitioners are sure to find topics applicable to their practice.
6. The Doctor’s Channel
The Doctor’s Channel offers several series of short videos covering a variety of medical topics. While you won’t be able to watch the content during your commute, you can certainly listen in on the presentations. Continuing education videos on The Doctor’s Channel are free. Use caution, however, as some content is expired and no longer qualifies for continuing education credit.
7. Barkley and Associates
Nurse practitioners studying for the certification exam will maximize study time by tuning in to review sessions during downtime throughout the day. Barkley and Associates offers continuing medical education as well as NP certification review courses in audio format. Better yet, certification review courses qualify for continuing education contact hours making on-the-go study sessions for new grads even more efficient.
8. American Academy of Family Physicians
The American Academy of Family Physicians offers a number of ‘self-study’ CME options, many of which are conducive to completing during your commute. The ‘FP Audio’ series, for example, is an annual subscription with which nurse practitioners may earn 24 continuing education credits. Content is delivered in audio format. Subscribers receive credit by taking a quiz after listening.
9. Nationwide Children’s PediaCast
PediaCast is, your guessed it, a continuing medical education resource for pediatric providers. The podcast is commute friendly, easy to listen to on your phone or car stereo. Affiliated with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, a leading pediatric facility in Columbus, Ohio, providers can be assured of the quality of PediaCast’s content.
What are your favorite audio continuing medical education resources?