The mission of the continuing professional development program at USF Health is to advance the knowledge, competence and performance of healthcare professionals through the creation of a scholarly environment that fosters excellence in the lifelong goals of education, research and patient care. As an academic center of excellence, emphasis is placed on collaboration with the Quality Improvement divisions of USF Health and the affiliate hospitals to provide activities that focus on patient care improvement.

Purpose

The purpose of the program is to provide members of the USF Health faculty, practicing physicians, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals with high quality educational experiences that improve knowledge, competence, enhance performance-in ­practice, and promote practice behaviors required for excellence in patient care and research.

Audience

USF Health provides continuing education activities to meet the needs of physicians of all specialties, pharmacists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals from the local community, the state of Florida, the United States, and other countries.

USF Health continuing professional development provides educational activities that are scientifically valid, free of commercial bias, and based on the principles of adult learning. These activities are developed around specific needs related to gaps in knowledge, competence, performance, and/or patient outcomes, and whenever possible, offers education delivered in settings best suited to the intended results.

The formats include directly and jointly provided regularly scheduled series, visiting professor programs, symposia, conferences, workshops, enduring materials, and journal-based CE with a strong emphasis on integrating technology, simulation, hands-on learning, and team training to improve performance and patient outcomes.

Content

The continuing professional development mission is achieved by providing activities in collaboration with the USF College of Medicine departments, USF College of Pharmacy, USF College of Nursing, affiliate hospitals, other colleges within USF Health, and non-accredited educational organizations.

The content of the continuing professional development program includes a broad range of primary care and specialty topics, basic and translational research, health promotion and disease prevention, medical ethics, health policy, practice management, quality improvement, interprofessional teamwork, patient-centered care, evidence-based practice, and public health. The content encompasses the body of knowledge and skills generally recognized and accepted by medical professions as being within the basic medical sciences, clinical medicine or the public health arena.

The content of continuing professional development activities is based on clearly defined learner practice gaps and designed to improve the overall quality and safety of patient care.

Expected Outcomes

USF Health's continuing professional development program fulfills its mission by providing activities that assist physicians, pharmacists, and nurses in maintaining their clinical competence, enhancing their critical thinking and problem solving, improving their performance in practice, and enhancing the health outcomes of their patients.

Metrics for determining the achievement of the expected results include:

• Pre and post activity assessments that measure knowledge acquisition, application, and performance in practice.
• Post activity evaluation tools that measure commitment to change, increased learner confidence, validation of existing competence, and overall learner satisfaction with the continuing professional development activity.
• Follow-up outcome measurements to determine retention of knowledge, competence, and/or changes in practice behavior.
• Evaluation of enhanced patient safety, improved health outcomes, and reduction of medical errors may occur for selected activities.

The continuing professional development program operates in an academic healthcare environment and is regularly evaluated to assure alignment with the mission of USF Health and compliance with accreditation and regulatory requirements.