Aided by RhPAP funding, the Office of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development at the University of Calgary (the Office of CME&PD) works with rural physicians to provide high-quality CME that meets the needs of rural Alberta. The Office of CME&PD offers a range of rural-focused conferences, courses, and education series.
In addition to strengthening existing health-care services in rural communities, the Office of CME&PD supports continuous professional learning and encourages the creation and maintenance of professional networks. These activities help to reduce professional isolation and facilitate the retention of health-care providers in rural Alberta communities.
Education opportunities and professional networks help to build healthy communities for rural Alberta physicians; however, access to these opportunities can be a challenge. The decision to attend a CME activity can place quite a strain on smaller rural practices in terms of the extra workload placed on colleagues and the costs associated with attending. To help offset these challenges, RhPAP supports CME initiatives designed with rural practice in mind. The most well known of these initiatives is the Emergency Medicine for Rural Hospitals Conference.
