Continuing education's (CE's) primary purpose is to ensure that healthcare practitioners better meet the needs of society. Part of fulfilling this pupose is learning new skills or knowledge while part of the fulfilling this purpose is developing collaborative relationships to create a stronger network of care. It is this latter purpose that live CE requirements support.

Knowledge and skills can be learned online, and I agree that a middle gound of having only a partial requirement for live CE makes sense. However, pharmacists are imporant members of the healthcare team and often not included in care in the way that most benefits patients and other healthcare practitioners. A live CE requirements supports education of the team and for the team to best meet the needs of patients. This meets the strategic guidance of major CE accreditors and policy makers including the Accreditation Council of Pharmacy Education.

We need knowledgable, skilled, and engaged healthcare practitioners. This last part--engagement--is why live CE is so important. Only with engaged practitioners can we build a stronger health workforce and a healthier society.

Alan Dow, MD, MSHA