MISSION STATEMENT OF THE AACAP REGARDING CONTINUING MEDICAL EDUCATION

The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is a professional medical organization comprised of child and adolescent psychiatrists trained to promote healthy development and to evaluate, diagnose, and treat children and adolescents and their families who have disorders of feeling, thinking, and behavior. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s role is to lead its members through collective action, peer support, continuing education, and mobilization of resources.

The goal of continuing education activities of the AACAP are to enhance the physician’s ability to:

1. Improve clinical treatment of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders;
2. Collaborate effectively with primary care and child servicing agencies;
3. Remain up-to-date in regards to developments in our scientific knowledge base;
4. Improve the health and development of infants, children, and adolescents, including those at risk for psychiatric disorders;
5. Integrate research in basic science, clinical treatment, health care delivery, and prevention;
6. Identify and address professional practice gaps in current practice.

Based on needs assessments and professional practice gaps, educational activities are focused on important content areas, including but not limited to: biophysiology, comorbidities, diagnoses, etiology of disorders, genetics, prevention, treatment, screening, diversity in health care and health disparities. Our CME activities incorporate basic scientific developments, public policy, health care delivery, and changes in diagnoses and treatment to keep our members current with new developments in the field.

All of the AACAP’s continuing medical education activities are designed to improve the way we practice and adhere to the ethical principles of our profession. In addition, in response to member needs, feedback is used to improve the delivery, format and process of continuing medical education activities. The expected results of AACAP’s CME program include changes in competence or performance or patient outcomes

AACAP’s current CME activities include: the Psychopharmacology Update Institute offering approximately 12 CME credits; the Douglas B. Hansen, MD, Update Course offering approximately 18 CME credits; the Annual Meeting offering up to 50 CME credits for in-person meetings and up to 80 credits for virtual meetings; the Annual Meeting Self-Assessment Exam offering 8 CME credits; an annual enduring material module for Lifelong Learning offering up to 38 CME credits; one article per issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP) offering 1 CME credit per month, Manuscript CME offering up to 15 CME credits, a Clinical Essentials series of online activities offering between 1-6 CME credits, and other programs as needed (by special application).

Reviewed by CME Committee May 14, 2021. Approved by the Executive Committee July 23, 2021.