POMA CME Faculty Policies

The information below outlines POMA's standard faculty policies for educational events accredited by the association. If you have any questions, please contact the POMA CME Department at (717) 939-9318 x150 or email [email protected].

Curriculum Requirements for Osteopathic CME

In July 2022, the American Osteopathic Association Board of Trustees and House of Delegates approved the following in regards to osteopathically distinct CME:

  • Definition of Osteopathically Distinct CME
    Osteopathically distinct CME is evidence or practice-based medical education which includes the body of knowledge and skills essential to the osteopathic profession and patient care, and integrates osteopathic tenets and philosophy.
  • Faculty Requirement for Osteopathically Distinct CME
    At least 50% of the total educational credits must be presented by osteopathic physicians. The remaining professionals may include subject matter experts approved by an educational planning committee.
  • Curriculum Requirement for Osteopathically Distinct CME
    CME activities must address one or more of the AOA seven core competencies (current requirement as of January 2022) or one of the five osteopathic models with attention to the tenets.

Effective January 2023, the AOA updated its curriculum requirements for AOA-accredited CME activities.  All AOA accredit CME sponsors must adhere to the following requirements:

  • Core Competencies - CME activities must address one or more of the AOA seven core competencies OR one of the five osteopathic models with attention to the tenets of osteopathic medicine
  • Faculty Requirement - at least 50% of the total educational credits must be presented by osteopathic physicians.
  • Practice Gap Analysis
  • Educational Objectives
  • Outcomes Measurement
  • Standards for Integrity and Independence
  • Administrative Requirements

Learn more about the curriculum requirements for osteopathic CME.

Content Validation Value Statement

POMA expects that all of its accredited programs will adhere to the association’s content validation value statements. Specifically:

  • All the recommendations involving clinical medicine in a CME activity must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their indications and contraindications in the care of patients.
  • All scientific research referred to, reported or used in CME in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection and analysis.
  • Presentations that provide information in whole or in part related to non-FDA approved uses for drug products and/or devices must clearly acknowledge the unlabeled indications or the investigational nature of their proposed uses to the audience.

Safeguards Against Commercial Balance

POMA expects that the content or format of CME activities and related materials will promote improvements or quality in healthcare and not a specific proprietary business interest of a commercial interest. We employ several strategies to ensure the absence of commercial bias, including:

1. Faculty Disclosure Form – As a faculty member, a faculty disclosure form must be completed and returned to POMA prior to your presentation. POMA uses the disclosure as a standardized tool to identify and resolve any potential conflicts of interest. This information will be disclosed to our participants before the activity. There are several important key points to note:
• All persons who may impact the content of a CME activity are required to disclose any financial relationships that they have had in the past 12 months with ineligible companies.
• A conflict of interest is present when individuals have a personal financial relationship with a commercial entity that benefits the individual and may ultimately bias the presentation of that content to colleagues and learners.
• A commercial interest is any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distribution healthcare goods use by or on patients.
• A financial relationship is defined as being a shareholder, consultant, grant recipient, research participant, employee and/or recipient of any other financial or material support.
• There is no minimum financial threshold for the financial relationship. Disclose all financial relationships regardless of the amount.
• All financial relationships, regardless of the potential relevance to the education, are to be disclosed to learners prior to the activity.
2. Balance – CME activities must give a balanced view of therapeutic options. Use of generic names will contribute to this impartiality. If your educational material includes trade names, trade names from several companies must be used where available, not just trade names from a single company.
3. Peer Review – Presentation materials must be submitted prior to the CME activity. POMA's CME Task Force will review the presentation to determine whether it meets our regulatory and quality criteria, including balance, scientific rigor and freedom from commercial bias. POMA uses the Content Review Form as a standardized tool to evaluate each presentation.

4. Disclosure Slide - All presentations will include a disclosure slide at the beginning of the lecture.

Conflict of Interest Policy

The Pennsylvania Osteopathic Medical Association (POMA) is accredited by the AOA to provide osteopathic CME for physicians. POMA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide CME for physicians. As such, POMA must ensure balance, independence, objectivity and scientific rigor in all its educational projects. This disclosure form provides a standardized mechanism for identification, review and analysis of relevant financial relationship(s) that may affect the independence, integrity and scientific balance of CME activities designated for credit by the POMA. This disclosure form does not prevent an individual with such relationships from participating in the activity, rather it allows POMA to assess potential conflict of interest and resolve the conflict.

According to ACCME's Standards of Commercial Support, all persons who may impact the content of a CME activity are required to fully disclose current and recent financial relationships with commercial interests. Persons includes all faculty, committee members, authors, board members, staff and anyone else that influence content creation for POMA educational activities. A commercial interest is defined as any entity producing, marketing, re-selling or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients. The following are not considered to be commercial interests: 501-C non-profit or government; non-health care related companies; liability insurance providers; health insurance providers; group medical practices; for-profit hospitals; for-profit rehabilitation centers; for-profit nursing homes; blood banks; and diagnostic laboratories. A conflict of interest is present when individuals, or their spouse/partner, has a relevant personal financial relationship with a commercial entity that benefits the individual and may ultimately bias the presentation of that content to colleagues and participants. Financial relationship is defined as being a shareholder, consultant, grant recipient, research participant, employee and/or recipient of other financial or material support. Recent is defined as the past 12 months. 

Fair, unbiased education serves as part of the foundation for development of quality CME, therefore, the participants in this POMA CME activity must be made aware of any such financial relationship(s). Individuals associated with POMA educational activities must complete and submit this form. Individuals who refuse to disclose relevant financial relationships will be disqualified from participating in POMA educational activities.

Presentation Tips

  1. Know your audience
    1. The majority (95%) of the audience will be comprised of DOs
    2. The most common specialties are family medicine and internal medicine, though other specialties are represented
  2. Arrive early - at least 45 minutes before your scheduled lecture time
  3. Include a disclosure slide after the title slide
  4. Do not read your presentation
  5. Use high contrast for text - dark text on a light background is best as lights will be slightly dimmed)
  6. Include 3-5 "take-aways" for participants that can be implemented in their office
  7. Leave time at the end for Q&A (10 minutes)

Click here for additional design guidelines and best practices.