Activity Planning Process


Planning Process Overview

UF CME strives to follow a uniform and consistent program planning process for each type of CME activity. UF CME program planning is divided into five phases as described below.

Phase 1 – Activity Proposal

The UF CME office evaluates new activity proposals to make sure that they are consistent with the office’s mission, goals and objectives. This preliminary evaluation also includes an assessment of whether or not UF CME is likely to have the expertise and resources necessary to successfully carry out the proposed activity.

Phase 2 – Activity Preplanning

In this phase, an Activity Director is selected and a planning team is established. The Activity Director (usually a UF College of Medicine faculty member) coordinates the activity planning process. The planning team typically includes the Activity Director, UF CME staff, and other parties as needed. This team is responsible for completing a program application and presenting the program for CME activity approval.

Phase 3 – Activity Planning

This phase includes meeting planning and content planning, and is the phase in which most of the work in the planning process occurs. Meeting planning includes date and site selection, facility contracting and budgeting. Content planning is directed by the Activity Director and includes completion of an educational needs assessment, target audience selection, speaker and topic selection, as well as identifying the most appropriate educational format for the activity.

The UF CME Activity Application form is the primary vehicle used to direct and organize the planning process so that all important program planning elements are addressed and ACCME requirements are met. UF CME requires all individuals who are a position to influence or control the content of a CME activity to report potential commercial conflicts of interest as they are defined by the ACCME (see https://www.accme.org/accreditation-rules/standard-3-identify-mitigate-and-disclose-relevant-financial-relationships).  A standard UF CME Conflicts Disclosure Form is provided for that purpose.

Phase 4 – Activity Approval

In this phase, UF CME staff review the UF CME Activity Application, note necessary additions or modifications, and work with the Activity Director on supplementing the Application with missing information. Once approved internally by the CME staff, the Activity Application is sent for independent content review by a College of Medicine Faculty Reviewer or a member of the CME Advisory Committee. Following satisfactory review by both the CME staff and faculty reviewer, the activity application is forwarded to the UF CME Advisory Committee for ratification.

Phase 5 – Activity Delivery and Evaluation

Following CME activity approval, preparation for delivery of the educational activity is ongoing and includes registration, documentation of CME credit, activity evaluation and final budget reconciliation.