Continuing Professional Development in Psychiatry and Neurology: The 3rd Annual Chair Summit

The continuing professional development (CPD) of clinicians is a critical process in protecting one of the United States’ most precious human resources. The American Medical Association considers CPD as a system in which physicians, with the help of educational experts, consistently enhance their own clinical practice to provide optimal patient care. CPD calls for clinicians to be motivated, self-directed, lifelong learners who are focused on patient outcomes. Continuing medical education (CME) is a powerful strategic asset to the CPD of clinicians, which aims to improve the lives of patients by translating research and evidence into clinical practice. The Institute of Medicine report Redesigning Continuing Education in the Health Professions (2010) calls for CME to align learning with health professionals’ needs. To meet that goal, The 3rd Annual Chair Summit, The Master Class for Neuroscience Professional Development, held in Chicago, Illinois (August 2010), brought together chairpersons in psychiatry and neurology to act as expert peer teachers for frontline clinician learners. Faculty and learners collaboratively evaluated evidence, shared ideas and clinical practice challenges, developed individualized clinical strategies, explored the role of the multidisciplinary team, discussed health-system issues, and translated the neuroscience discoveries into patient-centered practice improvements. This introduction introduces 4 companion, CME-certified articles of 2010 Chair Summit highlights, addressing the gap between evidence and practice in multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injury, sleep-wake disorders, Alzheimer disease, genetic research into psychosis, schizophrenia, treatment-resistant depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, physician addiction, suicide, and technology-based treatment.