Canadian Association of Continuing Health Education

Summit - Oct 10, 2008

(1) Report by Ruby Grymonpre, CIHC Steering Committee Member who attended this conference on behalf of CIHC.

The Canadian Association of Continuing Health Education(CACHE), was incorporated in 2006. The CACHE held its first ever Summit on Oct 10, 2008 in Toronto. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare a position paper defining the role of CHE in Canada and its evolution in the future. Attended by 100 leaders from academia, regulatory bodies, professional societies, government & industry – the format of the meeting (panelists, critics, and observers) allowed for open communication by all in attendance. Ruby Grymonpre represented the CIHC as a panel member. All deliberations were transcribed and audiotaped.

3 topics were the focus of an innovative interactive panel discussion:

  1. Regulatory environment:
  2. What should the purpose and oals of regulation ibe in CHE?
  3. What individuals, groups, and/or orgnizations have the necessary competencies to develop regulations consistent with the goal of regulation of CHE?
  1. Financing Continuing Education:
  2. What could the ideal model of CHE financing be and why? What potential models could be explored to finance CHE in Canada?
  3. What are important ethical, professional, and political issues related to this model and how could they be addressed?
  4. How is CHE currently financed? What is the impact of this funding model on CHE that needs to be addressed? What are the current ethical professional, and political issues?
  5. How can the transition from the current model to the ideal model be approached?
  1. CHE process: What works? What does not work?
  2. What are the developing models of CHE that require accommodation in a new model of regulation and financing, e.g. interprofessional CHE, point of care CHE, mentoring, iterative programs over time?
  3. What are the key challenges to new models of CHE? How can they be addressed?
  4. What roles do current stakeholders play in CHE (e.g. industry, academia, government agencies, professional associations)? How can these roles be optimized, complementary, collaborative?
  5. What are the key goals of CHE and how can they be supported by regulation?
  6. Improving patient outcomes
  7. Integration of CHE and performance improvement to promote optimal patient care and impact onpatient outcomes??

This was clearly a critical meeting to begin the discussions around the present and future direction of continuing education for health professions in Canada.

(2) Follow-Up Email

Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:46:07 -0500
From: Susan Rock <>
Reply-To: Susan Rock <>
Subject: Thank you to CACHE Fall Summit Panelists
To: Susan Rock <>
Dear CACHE Fall Summit Panelist
On behalf of the Canadian Association for Continuing Health Education
(CACHE) we would like to sincerely thank you for your active participation
as a panelist in the CACHE Fall Summit, held in Toronto on Friday October
10th. Your input in the discussion was invaluable and you have already
helped us to more clearly define our unique Canadian situation. The meeting
certainly generated a lot of interest from key stakeholders involved in
CHE/CME/CPD in Canada, as demonstrated by the overwhelming response from our
106 participants.

The primary objective of the meeting was to bring together multiple Canadian
stakeholders, and their organizational perspectives, to dialogue and
exchange on the current and future needs for a collaborative CME and CHE
environment. The quantity and quality of information captured from the large
number of stakeholder groups represented at the Summit is so impressive, we
can confidently consider this objective met.
As you know, the Fall Summit is just the very first step of an iterative
process and begins a dialogue that will continue. The complexity of this
topic is such that further discussion and debate is required to deliver on
our longer-term objective to consolidate the multiple perspectives of our
Canadian stakeholders to develop and publish a position paper that will
reflect and guide the direction of CME and CHE in our country. Over the next
few months we intend to pull together the data that was collected and to use
this to define an aligned position on a collaborative CHE environment.
The slide presentations from our 5 keynote speakers are now posted on the
CACHE web site for your reference. We also invite you to log on to
< to provide your feedback
and meeting evaluation:
1) Go to

2) Login using form at top of page
3) Click on either "2008 Fall Summit" logo on front page or go to menu item
"Conferences > 2008 Fall Summit Materials"
Next steps
The data collected during the summit meeting through audio recordings, flip
charts and post-it notes will be consolidated and analyzed. Key statements
summarizing the discussion will then be posted on-line soliciting validation
and further collection of feedback. We anticipate that the results of this
consultation will be submitted for publication in early spring 2009.
The CACHE Board, which was founded on a model of collaboration, believes
that it is time to define the state of CHE in Canada and develop a model for
the future. We are inviting leaders from academia, regulatory bodies,
professional societies, government, and industry, to continue this dialogue.
Yours sincerely,
Bernard MarlowSuzanne Murray
CACHE President CACHE Fall Summit Chair