TikTok vs. Continuing Education
Every day we have colleges, health systems, pharmacies, and companies of all sizes looking to create CE with us. Specifically, ACPE-accredited education. They believe the value CE provides to their employees, clients, and customers is worthy of the investment (and so do we!).
But I’d like to ask you a question.
Do you know what makes CE, CE?
Are you clear about why CE has a place in your professional growth?
There are five things that differentiate continuing education from other sources of education (especially from what you may see on TikTok, IG, LinkedIn, etc.).
- A set of standards. ACPE outlines eleven standards that must be met for every CE course. The standards address learning principles, integrity, and evidence to ensure quality across providers and courses.
- Learning process. Learners know the educational goals up front and the course delivers on that promise.
- Evidence-based. Information in CE must be referenced and data driven. While opinions and experience from industry experts are helpful, peer-reviewed evidence provides credibility.
- A continuum of pharmacy school. A good rule of thumb is “if it’s taught in pharmacy school, it’s CE worthy.”
- Unbiased. If you were trying to sell a product, you would be biased towards it. Therefore, companies that sell a product used by or on patients can’t provide CE. They can provide information but it’s not CE.
There are many vehicles to learn from today – social media, email, journals, conferences, books, TV, podcasts, etc.
However, as healthcare professionals we need to be able to discern the evidence and the facts – to know the content is accurate, balanced, and scientifically justified.
Bottomline – not all education is credible and evidence-based.
As trusted healthcare professionals, it is important we’re mindful of who we trust and where we get our information.
As always, have a great week and keep learning!
Jen