A Message from the president, Letitia Esbenshade-Smith, MS Ed, RCES, RCIS
October 8, 2022 – Last spring I had the pleasure of attending both the American College of Cardiology and Heart Rhythm Society annual meetings in Washington DC and San Francisco, respectively. It was wonderful to be back to in-person meetings and to reconnect with colleagues and attend educational sessions.
My last triennial renewal period occurred during the pandemic years when in-person meetings were canceled. During that time, it was difficult to find reliable and quality educational activities online to obtain the required number of continuing medical education credits (CME) for credential renewal.
Because of this, CCI has updated their Educational Resource page to offer a list of some of the continuing education opportunities in the coming year. Other CME options can be found at the bottom of the page here. If you know of other educational opportunities that aren’t listed here, please send them to Cresta Archuletta at carchuletta@cci-online.org.
Part of my challenge was making sure that the educational credit I obtained met the criteria and would be accepted by CCI. As a CCI credential holder, we are required to acknowledge we have obtained CME from a reliable provider during our triennial (3 – year) renewal cycle (16 CMEs for certificate credentials and 36 CMEs for registry and advanced credentials) and certificates of completion must include your name, course title, dates of attendance, number of credit hours received, and sponsoring/accrediting agency.
Click here to see the list of Sponsoring / Accredited agency CME’s that CCI accepts.
The following organizations submit continuing education directly to CCI and CCI Credential holders must provide these organizations with their eight-digit CCI number for the continuing education information to transfer directly to us:
• American Society of Echocardiography (ASE)
• Institute for Advanced Medical Education (IMAE)
• Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonographers (SDMS)
• Society for Vascular Ultrasound (SVU)
In 2016, CCI began a new process of auditing CME’s and will audit 15% of the number of credential holders that are up for renewal during each cycle (4 times annually). I have been audited for the last two renewal cycles (and yes, these are random audits~!). When this occurs, I am required to log into my CCI account and upload PDF copies of my CME’s to my CEU tracker. ONLY those who are audited need to do this. If you are not audited, you do not need to upload CME’s, just house your CME’s in your personal home files for at minimum one year after your renewal cycle date. (e.g. if you renew is in 2022, save the CME’s until 2023). Click here to learn more about the CME audit.
As a cardiovascular professional, I believe I have an obligation to be a life-long learner which includes keeping up with the technological advancements in my field. Education doesn’t end when you begin your professional career. It is a necessary requirement to continually educate yourself and I hope you will commit to this – make it part of your monthly to-do list. It will seem less overwhelming when the time comes to renew your credential and it can be used as an opportunity for career advancement.
Happy Learning,
Lisha