UCLA Center for Continuing Professional Development: Advancing Medical Excellence

The Center for Continuing Professional Development (CCPD) at the David Geffen School of Medicine (DGSOM) at UCLA, formerly known as UCLA Continuing Medical Education (CME), plays a vital role in supporting the ongoing educational needs of the medical community. Through high-quality, evidence-based activities, the CCPD aims to narrow the professional practice gaps of its learners, ensuring they remain at the forefront of their fields.

The Essence of Continuing Professional Development

Continuing professional development (CPD) embodies the concept of lifelong learning and self-improvement for healthcare professionals. It is a continuous journey that encompasses a wide range of activities designed to expand knowledge, refine skills, and enhance overall competence. These activities can include:

Attending workshops
Participating in conferences and seminars
Enrolling in online courses and webinars
Reading relevant literature and journals
Engaging in other activities that promote professional growth

The ultimate goal of CPD is to empower healthcare professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements in their respective fields and to deliver the highest quality care to their patients.

A Holistic Approach to Professional Growth

Professional development extends beyond medical knowledge, encompassing the entirety of skills and knowledge needed to practice at the top of our profession. While continuing medical education addresses medical knowledge, continuous development of skills in leadership, ethics, health equity, care quality, management, and ethics is also crucial. The CCPD serves as the conduit for providing this content to faculty and the medical community at large.

Vision for Leadership in Professional Development

The CCPD's vision is to be one of the national leaders in providing professional development content. To achieve this, the CCPD collaborates with content experts across DGSOM and the larger UCLA community to develop programming in both live and virtual spaces.

Regularly Scheduled Series (RSS)

A regularly scheduled series (RSS) comprises live, ongoing sessions offered weekly, monthly, or quarterly. The Center for Continuing Professional Development (CCPD) defines this as a series with multiple ongoing sessions, similar to an RSS.

Diverse Course Offerings

The Center for Continuing Professional Development collaborates with UCLA and stakeholders to deliver a variety of in-person, live-streamed, and hybrid courses.

Live Courses

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) defines a live course as "an activity in which the learner participates in real time." These courses can take the form of on-site events or live streams through an online platform. These live courses are designed to help clinicians maintain and upgrade clinical skills and knowledge, keep abreast of new and evolving medical concepts pertaining to effective diagnostic and treatment strategies, remain current with basic science research, and foster professional development in procedural skills, communication and teaching skills, and bioethics.

On-Demand Courses

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) defines enduring material as an on-demand activity where the participant chooses whether and when to take part. There isn't a specific time for participation, and the content can be accessed at any time during the program's lifespan.

Unique Educational Experiences

UCLA offers significant opportunities for unique educational experiences, no matter what level of experience you have or type of education you are seeking.

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Grand Rounds

UCLA specialty departments hold weekly Grand Rounds, providing DGSOM faculty the opportunity to present complex medical cases and foster treatment discussion among clinicians. Grand Rounds are recorded and available online to our international partner sites through our International Distance Learning Program.

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