| Beginning with the August 2004 issue of Neurosurgical Focus, the online, rapid-publication journal of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, AANS members were afforded the opportunity to earn continuing medical education credits online at no cost. For each issue of Neurosurgical Focus, members can earn one category 1 CME credit by taking a 10-question exam. Once the exam is passed, one credit automatically posts to the participant’s CME transcript at password-protected www.MyAANS.org. AANS members can complete the exam or view their CME transcripts, by subspecialty if preferred, at www.MyAANS.org, and they can earn up to 12 credits per year through this free service. The CME opportunity now is offered from the current issue back to the April 2004 issue. To mark the one-year anniversary of this member benefit, the Bulletin asked two AANS members to test the service and review its functionality. |
The online neurosurgical journal Neurosurgical Focus also is a convenient resource for continuing medical education credit. The NSF Web page can be accessed directly at www.aans.org/education/journal/neurosurgical, where links to the last six issues are available. Previous issues, with CME credit available to April 2004, are accessible via the Archives link in the NSF tool bar. Test-takers read the journal and then select the link CME Activity Info and Test, where instructions for taking the 10-question CME quiz and a link to the test on www.MyAANS.org are located. One category 1 CME credit is recorded automatically on the CME transcripts for successful participants. |
A User-Friendly and Worthwhile Service
Alan S. Boulos, MD
With the continued need for neurosurgeons to earn and document CME credits, the AANS has provided its members with a streamlined method for earning and documenting neurosurgical CME credit online. Neurosurgical Focus, the online journal of the AANS Journal of Neurosurgery, is providing CME credit that is automatically documented for members at www.MyAANS.org.
Neurosurgical Focus, located at www.MyAANS.org, is awarding one CME credit per issue to AANS members who take a 10-question true-false examination and answer at least seven questions correctly. Each issue of Neurosurgical Focus, published monthly, explores a certain neurosurgical subject or therapeutic technique such as radiosurgical, endovascular, endoscopic, or minimal access surgical options. The articles are published in a format similar to that of the Journal of Neurosurgery. The advantage of the online journal is the short time between submission and peer-reviewed acceptance of the article for publication. In fact, many articles have been published within two months of submission. This short turnaround provides readers with the latest information regarding rapidly evolving technology. Each issue invites submissions on a particular topic; however, the journal also accepts articles on previously published topics, widening the options for submission considerably. Recent issues of Neurosurgical Focus also provide links to related articles published in the Journal of Neurosurgery.
The process for receiving CME credit through
I have earned CME credits for the past several issues on trigeminal neuralgia, glomus tumors, endovascular treatment of aneurysms, and carotid stenting. The design of the Neurosurgical Focus CME interface is simple and useful. The questions are reasonable and representative of each article. The questions are submitted by the authors and therefore often reflect important points within the article. Overall, this new Neurosurgical Focus offering is user-friendly and worthwhile. The format of the online journal is improving and could be a great avenue for rapid communications of new scientific evidence.
Alan S. Boulos, MD, is assistant professor and Herman and Sunny Stall Chair in Endovascular Neurosurgery at Albany Medical College in New York.
A Convenient Supplemental CME Source
Monica Wehby, MD
As the requirement for neurosurgical CME credits becomes imperative for maintenance of certification, options other than the expense and time of attending a national meeting must be explored. One such opportunity is earning one category 1 CME credit per issue by reading the online AANS journal Neurosurgical Focus.
Neurosurgical Focus is easily found at www.MyAANS.org, and CME credit is available for issues dating back to April 2004. Simply select a topic that interests you, read the journal, and take a 10-question quiz. You have two chances to pass with a minimum score of seven correct answers. The program will instantly inform you of incorrect answer and will refer you to the article in the issue where the correct answer is found. I found the questions to be reasonable and actually bits of information that I had retained from reading the articles, as opposed to obscure minutia. The CME credit is posted automatically on your individual transcript housed at www.MyAANS.org.
The upside of this opportunity is the convenience of obtaining credits at a time of your choosing, such as during lunch or if someone no-shows in clinic, and the test-taking process can be interrupted as often as necessary without penalty. You can even stop midway through the exam and return to the same question later, providing you have not yet scored it.
The downside is that, despite the comment in the directions that “articles that should be read to pass the exam are clearly identified” I found that, after a determined but fruitless search, this is not the case. There are approximately 10 articles in each issue, and all must be read prior to taking the exam. This endeavor took me about two-and-a-half hours (your own results may vary), although I did learn something in the process. If all articles are required reading before taking the test, making this at least a two CME credit exercise would be more appropriate.
The current time commitment seems excessive for one CME credit, but the convenience makes it a supplemental CME source worth considering.
Monica Wehby, MD, is a neurosurgeon with Microneurosurgical Consultants P.C. in Portland, Ore.
New users of www.MyAANS.org will need to register using member number and e-mail address. Assistance is available from AANS Member Services at (888) 566-AANS (2267) or [email protected].