In addition to providing a wide array of educational programs at its twice yearly national meetings, the American Psychoanalytic Association plays an important role in supporting the continuing education of psychoanalysts on the local level throughout the year.
Through joint sponsorship, The American enables affiliate societies and component institutes to provide Category 1 CME credit to participating physicians.
Joint sponsorship was initiated about fifteen years ago under the leadership of Edward Joseph and James McLaughlin, then cochairs of the Joint Committee on Continuing Education. They devised a structure, the National Subcommittee on Joint Sponsorship, that allows The American both to participate integrally in the planning and implementation of jointly sponsored CME activities and to conduct the evaluation mandated by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).
Each society/institute that wishes to make use of joint sponsorship with The American selects a member who will assume responsibility for the group's CME activities. Often this individual works with a local CME or program committee. The name of the individual is sent to the president of The American and to the chair of the Board on Professional Standards with a request that that person be appointed to the National Subcommittee on Joint Sponsorship. The local representative then functions in the dual role of representative from The American to the local group and from the group to The American. This is put into practice through joint work at the December meeting and through detailed correspondence throughout the year.
In the beginning, joint sponsorship was a fairly simple matter. However, over the years it has become increasingly complex. As it has become more and more difficult and expensive to obtain CME accreditation elsewhere, the number of societies/institutes participating in joint sponsorship with The American has increased to twenty-five, and local groups are offering many more educational programs than in the past. In addition, the process of meeting ACCME requirements has become more complicated and time-consuming.
For the joint sponsorship to work there must be an exchange of correspondence between the representative, who attends to the many details that go into planning, documenting, publicizing, evaluating, and summarizing each CME activity on the local level, and the subcommittee chair, who scrutinizes all documents to ensure that ACCME requirements are met. If there is a problem, the chair provides a written explanation of what must be done to correct it. If everything is in order, the activity is approved for CME accreditation. An exchange of ideas in person among the representatives at the December meeting further ensures that The American is directly responsible for all CME activities it sponsors jointly. At its December 1995 meeting the subcommittee voted to place on probation, after an initial warning, any society or institute whose representative does not submit materials in compliance with ACCME requirements. During the probation period, that society/institute's activities cannot be accredited through joint sponsorship. The Executive Council approved that decision.
To facilitate the work of representatives, the subcommittee has prepared a packet that includes an annual schedule for applications and summaries, together with detailed instructions; model application, publicity, and evaluation materials; blank application forms; the ACCME booklet Essentials, Guidelines and Standards; and sample Faculty Disclosure, Summary, and Contract for Financial Support forms.
There is a $350 fee for this joint sponsorship service, $500 if both an institute and a society receive credit. These funds are earmarked for secretarial support.
CME credits for candidates are handled in a different way. Arthur M. Osteen, director of the AMA's Office of Physician Credentials and Qualification, explains: “The American Medical Association would accept a report of the year of full-time training in an accredited psychoanalytic institute for fifty hours of AMA PRA Category 1 education. During the period of such study a physician would not be able to earn other CME credit, since all of his educational activities would be viewed as part of his education.”
The American also offers continuing education credit to psychologists for its national programs through the American Psychological Association. Accreditation on the local level for psychologists, social workers, and counselors is usually negotiated with the state governing boards for their disciplines.
Sara S. Tucker, M.D., chairs The American's Joint Committee on Continuing Education and the National Subcommittee on Joint Sponsorship.