Facilitating Flexibility: The Role of CPD Regulators and Accreditors during a Crisis

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed healthcare systems – including CPD learning environments – around the world. Rarely has there been a time in recent history when almost the entire healthcare profession urgently needed to learn new skills. At the same time, education providers endured new personal and professional stressors. In the US, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education shifted its position from regulator to facilitator to give CPD providers the guidance, resources, and flexibility that would empower them to help healthcare professionals respond to the pandemic. Despite unprecedented challenges, the CPD community rapidly shifted from live to virtual learning environments to offer critical training, significantly increasing engagement with clinicians and teams, and demonstrating that CPD is an important part of the solution. As the healthcare system continues to undergo stress, it is important that institutional and health system leaders appropriately resource CPD programmes, enabling them to address evolving pandemic-related issues. Regulatory bodies in the CPD sphere should continue to take a leadership role on three fronts: facilitating innovation in education design and delivery; evolving data-reporting systems to reduce burdens on clinicians; and standing up for science by countering medical misinformation and ensuring that education provides valid content.