Foundations Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education Intervention Guideline Series: Guideline 3, Educational Meetings Thomas J. Van Hoof, MD, EdD; Rachel E. Grant, RN, BScN, MN; Joanna Sajdlowska, BSc; Mary Bell, MD, MSc; Craig Campbell, MD; Lois Colburn; Todd Dorman, MD; Michael Fischer, MD, MS; Tanya Horsley, PhD; Constance LeBlanc, MD, MAEd; Jocelyn Lockyer, MHA, PhD; Donald E. Moore, Jr, PhD; Robert Morrow, MD; Curtis A. Olson, PhD; Ivan Silver, MD, MEd; David C. Thomas, MD, MHPE; Mary Turco, EdD, MALS; Simon Kitto, PhD Abstract: The Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education commissioned a study to clarify and, if possible, to standardize the terminology for a set of important educational interventions. In the form of a guideline, this article describes one such intervention, educational meetings, which is a common intervention in health professions’ education. An educational meeting is an opportunity for clinicians to assemble to discuss and apply important information relevant to patient care. Based on a review of recent evidence and a facilitated discussion with US and Canadian experts, we describe proper educational meeting terminology and other important information about the intervention. We encourage leaders and researchers to consider and to build on this guideline as they plan, implement, evaluate, and report educational meeting efforts. Clear and consistent use of terminology is imperative, along with complete and accurate descriptions of interventions, to improve the use and study of educational meetings. Keywords: innovative educational interventions, interprofessional education, knowledge translation, quality improvement, educational meetings, continuing education, continuing medical education, conferences DOI: 10.1097/CEH.0000000000000011 T he Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) commissioned the terminology project to shed light on four major educational interventions for which termi- nology may be a source of confusion, and, as such, may interfere with progress in research and in application. Based on pub- lished evidence reports, systematic reviews, expert opinion, and an earlier foundational project that established the extent to which terminology is a barrier among professionals and researchers in the field of continuing medical education, 1 the current project selected four interventions with the goal of creating guidelines to assist leaders and researchers in their ongoing use and study of the selected educational interventions. The purpose of each guideline is to standardize terminology and to generate additional discussion to advance the field. This article describes the findings from one of the educational interventions considered: educational meetings. Disclosures: The authors report the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) commissioned the project with funding from Pfizer, Inc. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and not necessarily those of SACME or Pfizer, Inc. Dr. Olson is the Editor-in-Chief of The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, of which the SACME is part owner. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest. Dr. Van Hoof: Associate Professor, University of Connecticut School of Nursing, Storrs, CT, and Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine and Health Care, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT. Ms. Grant: Research Associate, Continuing Professional Development, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Ms. Sajdlowska: Research Assistant, School of Nursing, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. Dr. Bell: Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Dr. Campbell: Associate Professor of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada, and Director, Continuing Professional Development, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Ms. Colburn: Executive Director, Center for Continuing Education, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE. Dr. Dorman: Professor, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD. Dr. Fischer: Director, National Resource Center for Academic Detailing, Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, and Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Dr. Horsley: Associate Director, Research Unit, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and Adjunct Faculty, Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada. Dr. LeBlanc: Associate Dean, Continuing Professional Development, and Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada. Dr. Lockyer: Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, and Senior Associate Dean, Education, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada. Dr. Moore: Professor of Medical Education and Administration, Director, Office for Continuing Professional Development, and Director of Evaluation, Medical Student Curriculum, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN. Dr. Morrow: Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Family and Social Medicine, and Associate Director of Interventional CME, Center for CME, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. Dr. Olson: Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH. Dr. Silver: Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Vice-President Education, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada. Dr. Thomas: Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY. Dr. Turco: Assistant Professor of Medicine, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Director, Center for Continuing Education in the Health Sciences and Continuing Medical Education, Dartmouth- Hitchcock, Hanover, NH. Dr. Kitto: Director of Research, Continuing Professional Development and Assistant Professor, Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, and Scientist, Wilson Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada. Correspondence: Thomas J. Van Hoof, MD, EdD, University of Connecticut, 231 Glenbrook Road, Unit 4026, Storrs, CT 06269-4026; e-mail: tom.vanhoof@uconn.edu. Copyright ª 2015 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Association for Hospital Medical Education, and the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education S60 JCEHP n Fall 2015 n Volume 35 n Supplement 2 www.jcehp.org Copyright ª 2015 The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions, the Association for Hospital Medical Education, and the Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education. . All rights reserved