Online CME: Pulmonary/Critical Care/Hospital Medicine
Last Updated March 8, 2010.

Special Notice!! Looking for reviewers to help keep the List up-to-date.

The sites described on this page are primarily concerned with chest medicine, critical care and hospital medicine. You will find additional online CME sites and courses partially concerning chest medicine, critical care and hospital medicine at the main online CME site.

American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (AAAAI) Online CME

Navigation at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Online CME site is challenging. Some areas are restricted to members of the AAAAI. Here are the portions I was able to view:

  • Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) Online CME Program (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)
    Last visited...4/2009.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours....About 56 articles and quizzes each offering 1.0 credit.
    Awarded by....AAAAI.
    Cost for Credit....Free.
    Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics.
    Target Audiences...ALLG, PULM.
    Educational material last updated....2009.
    Financial Support...None Stated.

Some recent articles and quizzes include: Therapeutic approaches to allergy and autoimmunity based on FoxP3+ regulatory T-cell activation and expansion; Mechanisms and treatment of allergic disease in the big picture of regulatory T cells; Occupational asthma: Current concepts in pathogenesis, diagnosis, and management; Mechanisms of occupational asthma; and Efficacy and mechanisms of action of traditional Chinese medicines for treating asthma and allergy.

  • AAAAI Mini-Primer on Allergic and Immunologic Diseases 2008
    Last visited...4/2009.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours....10 articles  and quizzes each offering 1.0 credit.
    Awarded by....AAAAI.
    Cost for Credit....Free.
    Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics.
    Target Audiences...ALLG, PULM.
    Educational material last updated....2008.
    Financial Support...None Stated.

The 2008 Mini-Primer on Allergic and Immunologic Diseases appears to be a subset of 10 of the articles from the February 2008 Supplement of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI) Online CME Program. Some representative titles are: Lymphocytes; Dendritic cells as regulators of immunity and tolerance; Adhesion molecules and receptors; Gastrointestinal mucosal immunity; Genetics of allergic disease; and Secondary immunodeficiencies, including HIV infection

  • AAAAI/ACAAI Certification/Maintenance of Certification
    Board Review Course
    2008-2009 (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and (American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)
    Last visited...4/2009.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours....29.25.
    Awarded by....AAAAI.
    Cost for Credit....Member: $275; Non-Member: $375; Fellow-in-Training: $75.
    Instruction Type...Slide-Audio Lectures; Board Review.
    Target Audiences...ALLG, PULM.
    Educational material last updated....2008.
    Financial Support...Teva Pharmaceuticals.

You will hear summaries and review questions on subjects of interest to allergists and immunologists. At the conclusion of this course, you should be able to identify, evaluate and manage the current problems and issues in allergy/immunology in preparation for the ABAI examination.

  • Asthma IQ (American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology)
    Last visited....4/2009.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours...20. 
    Awarded by....American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI).
    Cost for Credit.....Free.
    Instruction Type....Case-Based Interactive.
    Target Audiences....ALLG, PULM.
    Educational material last updated...2008.
    Financial Support...None Stated.

The “Asthma Specialist Tool to Help Manage Asthma and Improve Quality” (ASTHMA IQ) will help clinicians to: use evidence-based medicine to make treatment decisions; graph and report patients’ asthma status over time; analyze statistics for the asthma patients in their practice; report quality improvement measures for Maintenance of Certification or Pay for Performance. This course is available only to AAAAI members or upon invitation.

American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP)
Last visited...2/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...45 activities offering a total of 97 hours.
Awarded by....American College of Chest Physicians.
Cost for Credit....Free or $5-25 per hour (see individual activty)
Instruction Type....Text-Only, Streaming Video, Slide-Audio Lecture AND Case-Based Interactive.
Target Audiences...PULM, CRIT CARE.
Educational material last updated.....2010
Financial Support...Some activities have industry support.

The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) offers CME in three categories: Pulmonary and Critical Care Update (PCCU); CHESTSoundings; and PACEP (The Pulmonary Artery Catheter Education Project). These are described in detail below.

  • Pulmonary and Critical Care Update (PCCU)
    Last visited...2/2010.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours...1.0 per lesson (24 hours per year; possible maximum of 72 hours)
    Awarded by....American College of Chest Physicians.
    Cost for Credit....Free for members of the ACCP; $192 for 24 hours for non-members (payable in advance; this fee is from previous visit; I could not find the current fee).
    Instruction Type....Text-Only.
    Target Audiences...PULM, CRITICAL CARE.
    Educational material last updated.....Monthly.
    CME Credit Expires...3 years after posting.
    Financial Support...None Stated.

Pulmonary and Critical Care Update (PCCU) is the major offering from the ACCP. Each month, this online journal provides two lessons on pulmonary and critical care topics. Some recent topics are: The Unexpandable Lung; Biostatistics and Epidemiology for the Clinician; and Respiratory Airway Medications: Select Toxicities and Drug Interactions.

  • CHESTSoundings
    Last visited...2/2010.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours...19 activities each offering 0.5 credit-hours (total of 9.5 hours).
    Awarded by....American College of Chest Physicians.
    Cost for Credit....Free.
    Instruction Type....Streaming Video.
    Target Audiences...PULM, CRITICAL CARE.
    Educational material last updated.....2010.
    Financial Support...Various pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies.

A set of brief video activities featuring a single expert on a single topic. Some recent titles are: Adjuvant Management Strategies in the Critically Ill Ventilated Patient; Case Studies in Pulmonary Vascular Disease: What Every Pulmonologist Should Know; Challenges in Management of Pulmonary Hypertension: ICU and Pregnancy; Clinical Conundrum: Two Differing Guidelines on VTE Prevention in Hip and Knee Surgery—Implications and Recommendations; and COPD 2010.

  • PACEP (The Pulmonary Artery Catheter Education Project)
    Last visited...2/2010.
    Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
    Credit hours...Level I - 10 hours; Level II - 5 hours.
    Awarded by....American College of Chest Physicians.
    Cost for Credit....$26.
    Instruction Type....Slide-Audio Lecture AND Case-Based Interactive.
    Target Audiences...PULM, CRITICAL CARE.
    Educational material last updated.....2007.
    Financial Support...Various pharmaceutical companies.

The Pulmonary Artery Catheter Education Project (PACEP) was designed to show pulmonologists and other critical care specialists  how to use the pulmonary artery catheter in the clinical environment and measure learning outcomes. Topics are divided into four levels (Levels I - IV; only Levels I and II are presently available) to facilitate participant progression from novice to expert.

Cerebrio
Last visited...3/2010.
Credit hours...3.5.
Awarded by...University of Michigan, University of Rochester.
Cost for Credit...Free.
Instruction Type....Text-Only.
Target Audiences....CRITICAL CARE, ID.
Educational material last updated...2008.
Financial Support...Pharmaceutical companies.

Two activities: Comprehensive Management of Patients With Complicated Intra-Abdominal Infections (1.5 hours); and Current Challenges in the Treatment of Patients Hospitalized for Community-Acquired Infections (2.0 hours).

Cleveland Clinic: Findings from the Department of Outcomes Research and Outcomes Research Consortium (Perioperative Hypothermia)
Last visited...3/2009.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD
Credit hours....4 activities, offering 0.5 or 2.0 hours (total of 5.0 hours)
Awarded by....Cleveland Clinic.
Cost..........Free.
Instruct. Type...Slide-Video lectures.
Target Audiences...SURG, ANES, CRITICAL CARE.
Educ. material last updated....2008.
Financial Support...Cleveland Clinic Foundation
CME Credit Expires...4/09.

After completing this series, you should be able to: review the effects of regional and general anesthesia on thermoregulatory control; discuss heat balance and how surgical patients become hypothermic; review the consequences of hypothermia and how to maintain normothermia; and identify methods of reducing the risk of surgical infection. Lectures are titled: Non-Pharmacologic Prevention of Surgical Wound Infection; Perioperative Shivering: Physiology and Pharmacology; Prevention and Treatment of Perioperative Hypothermia; and Temperature Monitoring and Perioperative Thermoregulation.

CMELogix (National Jewish Medical and Research Center)
Last visited...3/2010. 
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...7 courses offering 0.8 to 2.0 hours (total of 8 hours).
Awarded by....National Jewish Medical and Research Center.
Cost...........Most are Free, except ==>
Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics (pdf).
Target Audiences.... PULM, ALLG.
Educational material last updated....2009.
Financial Support...Multiple pharmaceutical companies.

You will find these activities: Diagnosing, Managing and Treating COPD; Excessive Daytime Sleepiness: Recognition, Diagnosis, and Treatment; MEDSCI Update: The New Era of Personalized Medicine; MEDSCI Update: Food Allergies - Principles and Practices; The Asthma Connection Vol. 2, Spring 2009: The Stepwise Approach to Asthma Management; Obesity and Asthma - Cause or Effect; and Highlights from the 31st Annual NJH Update on Allergy and Respiratory Diseases.

Johns Hopkins Consultative Medicine Essentials for Hospitalists
Last visited...6/2009.
Reviewed by Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...11 modules, each offering 1.0 or 2 hours (total of 18 hours).
Awarded by... Johns Hopkins.
Cost... Free.
Instruction Type...Case-Based Interactive.
Target Audiences... CRITICAL CARE.
Education material last updated...2009.
Financial Support...Merck.

11 modules: Perioperative Cardiac Risk Management; Perioperative Cardiac Risk Assessment; Diagnosis and Management of Acute Mental Status Changes: Delirium; Perioperative Acute Renal Failure Diagnosis and Management; Pulmonary Risk Management in the Perioperative Setting; Management of Hip Fractures; Prevention and Treatment of Surgical Site Infections; Perioperative Infections and Fever; Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis; The Role of the Medical Consultant; and Management of Uncontrolled Pain.

Medscape Critical Care
Last visited...11/2006.
Credit hours...Varies from time to time.
Awarded by....Medscape and many other sponsoring organizations.
Cost...........Free.
Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics, Text-Only, Slide-Audio Lecture, Slide-Video Lecture and Case-Based-Interactive.
Target Audiences....CRITICAL CARE.
Educational material last updated...New activities posted frequently.
Financial Support...Many academic, specialty, and commercial sources as well as WebMD.
Expiration of CME Credit...Credit for most activities expires one year after posting.

CME activities of special interest to critical care specialists. Medscape contains a variety of educational formats:
CONFERENCE COVERAGE - Reports of  advances presented at major medical conferences; typically includes several tracks with news stories, expert interviews, and in-depth topic overviews.
CLINICAL UPDATE - Comprehensive original review article on scientific advances in a clinical topic.
FAST TRACK CLINICAL UPDATE – Narrowly focused original review article on scientific advances in a clinical topic.
CME-LIVE - Real-time online events with streaming video, synchronized visuals, and interactive questions and answers; archived for 1 year.
NEWS-CME - Daily reports of major current medical research articles; 0.25 credits each
JOURNAL CME - Articles selected from a wide selection of conference reports and peer-reviewed journals, including MedscapeGeneralMedicine (MedGenMed).
SPECIAL REPORT CME – Topic-based monthly email newsletter distributed to Medscape’s professional member database by specialty.
INTERACTIVE PATIENT CASES – Original CME activity presented to the physician in an interactive, clinical case-based format. 
CME CIRCLE – Multimedia content certified by other accredited professional education providers, typically from live symposia or monographs, and then posted on Medscape and archived for one year.

Medscape Pulmonary Medicine
Last visited...11/2006.
Credit hours...Varies from time to time.
Awarded by....Medscape and many other sponsoring organizations.
Cost...........Free.
Instruction Type...Text-and-Graphics, Text-Only, Slide-Audio Lecture, Slide-Video Lecture and Case-Based-Interactive.
Target Audiences....PULMO.
Educational material last updated...New activities posted frequently.
Financial Support...Many academic, specialty, and commercial sources as well as WebMD.
Expiration of CME Credit...Credit for most activities expires one year after posting.

CME activities of special interest to pulmonary medicine specialists. Medscape contains a variety of educational formats:
CONFERENCE COVERAGE - Reports of  advances presented at major medical conferences; typically includes several tracks with news stories, expert interviews, and in-depth topic overviews.
CLINICAL UPDATE - Comprehensive original review article on scientific advances in a clinical topic.
FAST TRACK CLINICAL UPDATE – Narrowly focused original review article on scientific advances in a clinical topic.
CME-LIVE - Real-time online events with streaming video, synchronized visuals, and interactive questions and answers; archived for 1 year.
NEWS-CME - Daily reports of major current medical research articles; 0.25 credits each
JOURNAL CME - Articles selected from a wide selection of conference reports and peer-reviewed journals, including MedscapeGeneralMedicine (MedGenMed).
SPECIAL REPORT CME – Topic-based monthly email newsletter distributed to Medscape’s professional member database by specialty.
INTERACTIVE PATIENT CASES – Original CME activity presented to the physician in an interactive, clinical case-based format. 
CME CIRCLE – Multimedia content certified by other accredited professional education providers, typically from live symposia or monographs, and then posted on Medscape and archived for one year.

PILOT (Pulmonary fibrosis Identification: Lessons for Optimizing Treatment)
Last Visited...5/2009.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit Hours: 3 activities offering a total of 9.5 hours.
Awarded by...The France Foundation.
Cost….Free.
Instruction Type…Text-Only, Slide-Only, Podcast.
Target Audiences…PULM, RAD, PATH.
Educational material last updated….2008.
Financial Support…InterMune.

PILOT focuses on the early diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and disease intervention and management. Current offerings include:
The 2008 PILOT IPF Expert Roundtable Summary ( an expert roundtable discussion - 1.0 credit). 
The 2008 PILOT CME Peer-to-Peer Dialogues: Listen to the latest PILOT™ Peer-to-Peer Dialogue and earn up to 4.5 CME Credits. (.5 credits each)
The 2007 PILOT Compendium: The latest practical online IPF educational resource. (4 credits).

Practical Reviews in Chest Medicine
Last visited...2/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours... 36 per year (3.0 per month).
Awarded by.... Johns Hopkins.
Cost.......... $317 per year.
Instruction Type... Text-Only; Audio.
Target Audience...PULMO.
Educational material updated monthly.
Financial Support...None Stated.
Expiration of CME credit...Two years after date of publication.

Each issue contains: downloadable audio of 10-12 articles summarized and reviewed in each issue; downloadable PDF of written reviews with Take-Home Pearls that reinforce the audio material and give you a valuable reference for instant recall by subject; and self-assessment online quizzes to highlight key points and reinforce what you've learned. 

Practical Reviews in Critical Care Medicine
Last visited...2/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours... 36 per year (3.0 per month).
Awarded by.... Johns Hopkins.
Cost.......... $299 per year.
Instruction Type... Text-Only; Audio.
Target Audience...CRITICAL CARE.
Educational material updated monthly.
Financial Support...None Stated.
Expiration of CME credit...Two years after date of publication.

Each issue contains: downloadable audio of 10-12 articles summarized and reviewed in each issue; downloadable PDF of written reviews with Take-Home Pearls that reinforce the audio material and give you a valuable reference for instant recall by subject; and self-assessment online quizzes to highlight key points and reinforce what you've learned. 

Practical Reviews in Hospital Medicine
Last visited...2/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours... 36 per year (3.0 per month).
Awarded by.... Johns Hopkins.
Cost.......... $199 per year.
Instruction Type... Text-Only; Audio.
Target Audience...HOSPITAL MEDICINE .
Educational material updated monthly.
Financial Support...None Stated.
Expiration of CME credit...Two years after date of publication.

Each issue contains: downloadable audio of 10-12 articles summarized and reviewed in each issue; downloadable PDF of written reviews with Take-Home Pearls that reinforce the audio material and give you a valuable reference for instant recall by subject; and self-assessment online quizzes to highlight key points and reinforce what you've learned. 

Society of Hospital Medicine
Reviewed by Bernard Sklar, MD..
Last visited...6/2009.
Credit hours...3.
Awarded by.....University of Kentucky.
Cost ................Free.
Instruction Type....Case-Based Interactive.
Target Audience....CRITICAL CARE.
Educational material last updated....2008.
Financial Support...Scios.

3 activities, each offering 1 hour of credit: 
Team Communications for the Management of the Hospitalized Patient with Heart Failure; Optimizing the Heart Failure Discharge Transition; and Stroke and TIA: Truths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies.
Johns Hopkins Consultative Medicine Essentials for Hospitalists is described elsewhere on this page.

TheAnswerPage
Last visited...6/2009.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...Up to 60 hours per year (240 questions) in each specialty; about 300 hours available.
Awarded by...TheAnswerPage.com and Thomas Beam, Jr. Memorial Institute for Continuing Medical Education.
Cost....$150 per year for unlimited credit.
Instruction Type...Question-and-Answer.
Target Audience...ANES, PAIN MGMT, OB-GYN, NEONATAL, CRITICAL CARE.
Educational material last updated...Daily Updates.
Financial Support...Various pharmaceutical companies.

TheAnswerPage.com offers 0.25 hours of CME credit for study of the Question of the Day. You may study that question "today," or view an archive of questions. There are no quizzes; credit is applied to your account automatically as you go through the questions and answers, which are authored by faculty from Harvard and other medical schools. There are separate sections for Anesthesiology, Pain Management, Hospital & Critical Care, Obstetrics & Gynecology And Newborn Medicine. TheAnswerPage also has a handheld-based CME program, included in the same annual fee, which allows you to receive CME credit for study directly on handheld computers.

University of Michigan
Last visited...3/2010.
Reviewed by...Bernard Sklar, MD.
Credit hours...1.0 per guideline course. Others offer 1.0 to 3.0 hours. 36 activities offering a total of 46 credit-hours.
Awarded by....University of Michigan School of Medicine.
Cost...........Free.
Instruction Type....Text-Only Guideline-Based.
Target Audiences....Many Specialties, CARD, PULMO.
Educ. material last updated....2009.
Financial Support...None Stated.

27 text-only courses present University of Michigan Treatment guidelines on common medical conditions. A relatively new section offers 9 activities in pulmonary hypertension (2.0 or 3.0 hours each). 

Return to the Annotated List of Online CME (All Specialties)

This list was compiled by Bernard M. Sklar, MD, MS