Regularly Scheduled Series Training Manual
Welcome to the online training manual for regularly scheduled series sponsored by the Vanderbilt School of Medicine. Regularly scheduled series (RSS) are weekly or monthly CME activities that are planned by and presented to Vanderbilt School of Medicine faculty. RSS include, but are not limited to, grand rounds, tumor boards, journal clubs, M&M conferences, case conferences, and user group meetings.
The information below is designed to serve as a step-by-step process to guide you through the application for and implementation of your CME-certified activity. Forms and resources (titles of which are italicized) for each step are listed in the appropriate sections, and may be found on either the Required Forms or Supplemental Resources page of this website.
Designation of Credit
Recruitment Materials
Commercial Support
Faculty Financial Relationships
Disclosures to CME Activity Participants
Evaluation
Sign-in and Attendance
Annual Review
Record Retention
Designation of Credit
NOTE: An application is required for each regularly scheduled series, not each session. In most cases, applications have been completed and the Vanderbilt Division of CME will advise you when the content needs to be updated. If you are seeking credit for the first time, however, the information in this section applies to you.
An Application for Sponsorship and Credit Designation of a CME Activity form must be completed before your activity can be considered for credit. In addition to the completed/signed form, the following materials must be submitted to the Vanderbilt Division of CME (VCME):
- Documentation for performance gap
- Completed/signed Disclosure of Financial Relationships forms for each Course Director and (content) Planner
- Preliminary schedule or list of topics
Other requirements include:
- Review of VCME and Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) guidelines
- Registration by the CME Associate in the VCME Learning Management System
1. On the left side of this webpage, click “Sign up”
2. Enter your CME Registration data and click “Add”
3. Complete all pertinent fields on the CME User Profile page
4. Click “Save” before exiting the page
5. Send an email to cme@vanderbilt.edu stating that you have created your User Profile. - Completion of all requirements at least three months prior to activity start date. Credit will not be awarded if applications are submitted less than one month prior to the activity start date.
The Division of CME at Vanderbilt School of Medicine is accredited to provide AMA PRA Category 1 credit for physicians (MDs and DOs). For information on other organizations that provide different types of credit, visit the Supplemental Resources page of this website.
Recruitment Materials
Recruitment materials include:
Required checklists for each format may be found on the Required Forms page of this website.
All recruitment materials must be reviewed and approved by the Division of CME prior to distribution.
Commercial Support
NOTE: Applies only if you plan to request commercial support (grants) from entities that produce, market, re-sell or distribute health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. Grants from non-profit organizations, including governmental agencies, are exempt from these guidelines.
Prior to solicitation of commercial support, you must provide us with a list of possible supporters and requested amounts.
If your approved CME activity receives educational grants from pharmaceutical companies and/or medical device manufacturers, a signed letter of agreement (LOA) must be obtained from each company that provides a grant before your activity begins. Because Vanderbilt School of Medicine is the accredited provider, the director of the Division of Continuing Medical Education is the only individual authorized to approve and sign an LOA.
Most companies now require online grant requests. For those who do not, we have provided you with our Letter of Agreement to use where applicable.
The procedure for soliciting commercial support is as follows:
- Inform VCME of your intent to solicit commercial support by listing potential commercial supporters on your application for credit.
- When completing grant requests – whether online or off line – you must request payment to be made to the Vanderbilt Division of CME and sent to:
Vanderbilt Division of CME
ATTN: Don Moore or Nanette Bahlinger
320 Light Hall
Nashville, TN 37232-0260
- Advise VCME as requests for commercial support are approved or denied.
- When a grant request is approved, a company generally responds with a Letter of Agreement (LOA). This agreement must be submitted to and signed by the Director, Division of CME, prior to the activity start date. If the company does not provide an LOA, use the VCME Letter of Agreement.
- Failure to require companies to send commercial support payment to the Division of CME or failure to submit/obtain approval of the Director, Division of CME, of the LOA prior to the activity start date could result in delayed payment or credit revocation.
- Upon receipt, VCME will send checks to Vanderbilt Development and Alumni Relations (DAR) for processing. VCME will also send a copy of the check to you for your records. DAR will contact you to obtain your conference cost center number and deposit your check accordingly. All of these processes should be completed within a matter of days.
- Send VCME copies of financial reconciliations as required by commercial companies. Please do not be delinquent with reconciliation because it could interfere with other requests.
Click here to access Grant Request Information.
Click here to access ACCME Standards for Commercial Support.
Click here to access Pharmaceutical Grants Point-of-Contact List.
Click here to access Template for tracking your commercial support.
Faculty Financial Relationships
Anyone in a position to influence the educational content of your CME activity is required by the ACCME to complete and sign a Disclosure of Financial Relationships form. This includes, but is not limited to, all course directors, content planners, moderators and speakers. The purpose of this form is to list any financial relationships the individual may have with a pharmaceutical company and/or medical device manufacturer.
Disclosure forms for course directors and content planners must be updated annually.
Anyone in a position to influence the content who refuses to provide financial information cannot be permitted to participate in the CME activity.
Disclosure of Financial Relationships forms for speakers must be submitted to the CME office at least four weeks prior to each RSS session date.
Disclosures to CME Activity Participants
Financial Relationships
If a speaker indicates that a financial relationship relative to the content of his/her presentation exists, the course director will receive an email from VCME indicating that a review of the presentation is required. It is the responsibility of the sponsoring department to obtain speaker presentations. Following his/her review, the course director will advise VCME of the results by completing and submitting a Conflict of Interest Review form. Based on the results, the Division of CME will provide the appropriate disclosure verbiage.
Whether or not course directors, planners, speakers, moderators, panelists, etc. have financial relationships, the ACCME requires the disclosure of that information to the audience prior to the CME activity.
If all faculty members have no financial relationships to disclose, please add the following statement to your sign-in sheet:
All course directors, planners, and speakers indicated no financial relationships to disclose.
If one or more faculty have financial relationships to disclose, please add the following statement to your sign-in sheet:
Faculty members disclosed the following relationships:
((Add Course Director, Moderator, Speaker Name 1)): ((Add Company Name/Names)) – ((Add Relationship Role/Roles))
((Add Course Director, Moderator, Speaker Name, etc.)): ((Add Company Name/Names)) – ((Add Relationship Role/Roles))
Vanderbilt CME has determined that there are no conflicts of interest.
Example: All course directors, planners, and speakers have no financial relationships to disclose with the exception of the Ann Smith, MD, who is a consultant for XYZ Pharmaceuticals. Vanderbilt CME has determined that there are no conflicts of interest.
Information about financial relationships or lack thereof must be presented to the audience in the following way:
- Sign-in sheet
Off-label or Investigational Uses of Drugs or Medical Devices
- Each speaker is required to identify off-label uses or investigational uses of drugs or medical devices when he or she mentions them during a presentation in an approved CME activity.
- An accredited CME provider (Vanderbilt) is required only to inform each speaker that he or she must notify the audience each time that he or she mentions an investigational or off-label use of a product or device.
- The Disclosure of Financial Relationships form contains this notification. Asking speakers to complete and sign the form meets this requirement.
All Disclosure of Financial Relationships forms must be submitted to the CME office at least four weeks prior to each RSS session date.
Commercial Support
Whether or not your activity receives commercial support, the ACCME requires the disclosure of that information to the audience prior to the CME activity.
If your activity receives commercial support, please add the following statement to your sign-in sheet:
Vanderbilt School of Medicine ((Add Department and/or Division)) expresses appreciation to the following companies for their support of this educational activity by providing an unrestricted educational grant:
((Add Company Name 1))
((Add Company Name 2, etc.))
Example: Vanderbilt School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology, expresses appreciation to XYZ Pharmaceuticals for their support of this educational activity by providing an unrestricted educational grant.
If your activity does not receive commercial support, please add the following statement to your sign-in sheet:
This CME activity received no commercial support.
Information about commercial support must be presented to the audience in the following way:
- Sign-in sheet that contains disclosure
Evaluation
At a minimum, RSS must be evaluated on a quarterly basis, though you may choose to evaluate more often. Not all attendees will return completed evaluation forms, and a 100% response rate is not required.
A sample evaluation form is available, but we encourage you to develop an evaluation strategy that best meets your needs. At a minimum, the following questions must be asked:
- Measurement of the effectiveness of the CME activity in meeting the educational objectives defined on the application for credit.
- Two questions about changing performance: As a result of participating in this CME activity, will you adopt a new strategy or modify an existing strategy for managing patients or accomplishing other work that you do? If your answer is “yes”, would you share with us what you intend to do differently?
- Two questions about bias: Did you detect any bias in presentations in favor of or against any commercial product or service? (Support by a pharmaceutical or medical device company should not be considered a bias in and of itself.) If your answer is “yes”, please describe the bias that you detected.
It is the responsibility of CME Associates to summarize the responses on the evaluation form and use the information as applicable. The summary of evaluation forms should be submitted at the end of each quarter. You do not need to keep individual evaluation forms after the summary has been submitted.
Evaluation Summary submission schedule
- April 15 (data for first quarter, January 1 – March 31)
- July 15 (data second quarter, April 1 – June 30)
- October 15 (data for third quarter, July 1 – September 30)
- January 15 (data for fourth quarter, October 1 – December 31)
Reminders will be sent to you 2-3 weeks in advance of each due date.
A copy of your evaluation summary must be submitted quarterly.
Sign-in and Attendance
Participants are required to sign in at each session of an RSS.To provide each participant in a CME activity with a certificate of attendance, we require the following information:
- First Name
- Last Name
- Degree
- Email address (required)
The information above is requested on the Sign-in Sheet template.
It is the responsibility of the CME Associate to transfer the information collected on the Sign-in Sheet onto the Summary of Attendance form.
Summary of Attendance submission schedule
- April 15 (data for first quarter, January 1 – March 31)
- July 15 (data second quarter, April 1 – June 30)
- October 15 (data for third quarter, July 1 – September 30)
- January 15 (data for fourth quarter, October 1 – December 31)
Reminders will be sent to you 2-3 weeks in advance of each due date.
The Summary of Attendance form must be sent to the Division of CME on a quarterly basis. The Summary of Attendance form should be sent to cme@vanderbilt.edu as an email attachment.
- Please help us by identifying your CME activity correctly (see #1) on your Summary of Attendance form. We process attendance data for almost 200 CME activities per year.
- Please keep a copy of the Summary of Attendance form in your files. If the completed form is in your files, there is no need to keep the original sign-in sheets, although you are encouraged to do so.
- Within two weeks of receiving your Summary of Attendance, the Division of CME will email you to advise you that credit for your RSS has been uploaded.
- Participants may obtain their credit anytime, as often as they wish, at no charge, by visiting www.cme.vanderbilt.edu
Record Retention
Files and records related to CME planning and implementation must be retained for six years. These materials include, but are not limited to:
- Fully executed Application for credit (including needs assessment documentation)
- Recruitment materials (including evidence that the correct accreditation statement was used)
- Fully executed Letters of agreement (if commercial support is received)
- Fully executed Financial disclosure forms (and presentation review forms if applicable)
- Sign-in Sheets
- Summary of Attendance
- Evaluation summary
There is no need to keep the original Evaluation forms after the data has been summarized and submitted to the Division of CME.
