Pri-Med launched its Open Network, an initiative designed to spur industry-wide innovation in the way professional med ed is developed, delivered and funded.
The network, explained Frank Britt, is an acknowledgement that the usual one- or few-to-many education model is being turned on its head by peer-to-peer learning, especially as professional social media takes off, and that formats will continue to expand beyond live CME.
“We don’t have all the answers; we’re just out there trying to figure out what are the learning models of the future, and open source is trying to tease that out on a larger scale,” said Britt, who is president and CEO of M|C Holding, which owns Pri-Med.
That could mean sourcing overseas experts, allowing for reuse of content and experimenting with new delivery and funding formats, all of which Open will encourage.
Pri-Med itself exemplifies a flattening of the CME world. Its live regional conferences have declined from 120 to between 60 and 70, and the company has branched into digital formats that enable physicians to stay connected wherever they are, while offering non-CME promotional education.
“The way content gets measured in the 21st century is not just [by] experts but within the crowd,” Britt added. The “bigger tent,” as he put it, includes those from gaming, academic education and adult learning—constituents that the CPD sector hasn’t necessarily focused on.
From the December 01, 2010 Issue of MM+M - Medical Marketing and Media
