Continuing Health Education

Continuing Education

Continuing Education (CE) describes courses and educational opportunities for medical corps, dental corps, nurse corps and hospital corps service members.  Civilians may also host or attend CHE training opportunities.

  NML&PDC Continuing Medical Education Mission Statement

U.S. Navy Physicians and Department of Defense military and civilian physicians practice in a complex health care environment ranging from sophisticated tertiary care facilities to minimum capability operational units.  The purpose of the Naval Medical Leader & Professional Development Command (NML&PDC) Command is to facilitate the continuous learning process that keeps physicians professionally current despite variability in access to contemporary technologies and scientific arenas.  The NML&PDC, Continuing Medical Education (CME) Department, Bethesda, Maryland is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide CME for physicians.  The NML&PDC Office of CME sponsors activities that are designed to change competence and/or performance and/or patient outcomes.  The NML&PDC Office of CME staff works cooperatively with CME customers before, during and after the CME activity, maintaining close oversight to ensure compliance with NML&PDC and ACCME guidelines regarding the planning, implementation and impact/outcome assessment of each activity.

Navy physicians must be prepared to meet the demands of the Navy and Marine Corps fighting forces, the Aviation and Submarine communities, shipboard populations, retirees, recruits, newborn babies and family members, as well as unique populations such as, refugees, during war and peace time. In addition, they are required to maintain licensure and board certification, both of which require core continuing medical education.  The Office of CME at NML&PDC is appointed to act as the central administrator for the Navy-wide Continuing Medical Education Program by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED), and accomplishes this mission by sponsoring educational activities throughout the world. These CME activities serve to maintain, develop or increase the knowledge, skills, and professional performance and relationships that a physician uses to provide services for patients, the public, or the profession, and encompass the entire spectrum of Navy Medicine. 

The target audience consists primarily of active duty Navy physicians but also includes other DoD military and civilian physicians who practice in Navy Medicine’s complex and world-wide health care system ranging from sophisticated tertiary care facilities to limited capability operational clinics.  Combat Casualty Care, operational medicine, cultural and humanitarian missions, administrative and environmental health issues, updates on technology and anti-infective agents, morbidity and mortality, managed care, ethics, and even well-baby care are a few of the topics included in the broad scope of this program, offered locally at the various Navy medical facilities world-wide.  Through maintenance of a comprehensive CME program, with the added ability to respond quickly to the changing needs of the medical officers in the Fleet, the U.S. Navy Medical Department is best able to accomplish its mission of Force Health Protection while maintaining the readiness of our nation's maritime forces.

Review and Accreditation of CME Progams

The NML&PDC CME Program Manager reviews and processes CME educational activity applications from Command CME Coordinators via the commands’ Staff Education and Training Departments (SEAT), for the Navy Medical Corps. Approved CME educational activities that are in compliance with the requirements of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) are awarded AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM

         Continuing Nursing Education (CNE)