Continuing medical education has been a growing source of education and has gained immense popularity in the past few years. While it is not a relatively new concept, as it was originally conceived in the 1950s and 1960s, CME activities have gained momentum in the 21st century and with the due course of time, are becoming part and parcel of young amateurs as well as learned medical professionals. Let’s learn more about it with Free Online CME courses.
These days healthcare professionals can easily earn CME credits by attending live meetings, working online, or watching course recordings on their schedule. And when you are getting this opportunity and why not grab it?
List of Free Online CME Courses
You will be surprised to know the ample number of free CME online courses the vast world of the internet provides. We have jotted down the best courses offered online. Look into it and sign up for one now.
1. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV): Optimizing Pharmacotherapeutic Management Strategies- Scientia CME
The world today is fighting a lot of diseases, and HIV is one of them. This Free Online CME course aims at making people understand the severity of this disease and how it has evolved since the epidemic of the 1980s. This course is at an introductory level and can be attended by all, irrespective of their educational background. This is a CME activity that meets the requirements of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and provides a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.
Course Highlights:
- Become aware of the history of HIV syndrome
- Familiarise yourself with the current HIV guidelines
- Analyze the comorbidity level of HIV
- Review the ongoing treatment plans and strategies of HIV patients
- Develop your plan for treating patients
- Identify and overcome challenges that patients with HIV may come across
Course Duration: Self Paced
2. Trauma-Informed Primary Care: Fostering Resilience in Our Patients and Ourselves- Pri-Med
Resilience is one of the core aspects that patients should know. People suffering from traumas, be it domestic violence or human trafficking, experience a great deal of fear and anxiety in their lives. This Free Online CME course deals with making people adept at the prevalence and impact of gender-based violence in the world. Trauma-informed primary care is a CME activity accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education that provides continuing medical education to budding physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals.
Course Highlights:
- Understand the impact of traumas and violence on an individual
- Examine the health consequences of gender-based violence
- Learn about the gender-based violence prevalent in the world
- Know about the clinical practices in this topic
- Become aware of barriers and challenges in trauma-informed primary care
- Explore the diverse presentations of gender-based violence
Course Duration: Self Paced
3. Neuropsychiatric Sequelae Virtual Curriculum Series: Agitation, Depression, and Pseudobulbar Affect- Neuro Series Live
The Neuro Series Live has developed an online self-paced course on the topic of the management of agitation in Alzheimer’s disease. This is a highly informative course that offers complimentary online continuing medical education. Professors from Saint Louis University School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, and many more will educate the participants about the mechanisms and management and Alzheimer’s disease. Physicians, nurse practitioners, clinicians, and other medical professionals can take this course to expand their knowledge on this topic. These lecture cum modules earn AMA PRA Category 1 credit.
Course Highlights:
- Know what is Alzheimer’s disease
- Learn the signs and symptoms of a patient with Alzheimer’s disease
- Understand the psychology and behavioural science behind this disease
- Get familiar with the challenges in managing treatment
- Become aware of the types of depression in the world
- Examine the behaviour of patients with Alzheimer’s disease
Course Duration: Self Paced
4. Global COVID-19 Pandemic Updates Part One: Kenya and Ghana- Mayo Clinic
This Free Online CME self-learning course explains the Covid infection, its origin, its prevalence, its variants, its preventive measures, Its symptoms, and its treatment, especially in the regions of Kenya and Ghana. Therapies, vaccinations, treating patients, and their updates are deeply discussed and opinionated in this short-duration course. Along with Covid, the impact and prevalence of HIV, Tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases are thoroughly explored and discussed In this course. This course is available to all individuals at their convenience.
Course Highlights:
- Learn about the current situation of COVID-19 in Kenya and Ghana
- Discuss the therapies used for treating COVID-19 patients and Kenya and Ghana
- Explore the preventive measures used in the countries of Kenya and Ghana
- Examine the vaccination status of these two countries
- Understand the role of government agencies in creating awareness about COVID-19
- Know about the prevalence of other serious diseases in these countries
Course Duration: Self Paced
5. Update on Inflammation in Cardiovascular Disease: No Longer a Theory– Pri-Med
This is a digital self-learning course that deals with making people out of the current guidelines of multiple management all over the world. In addition to the guidelines, it addresses the problems of residual cardiovascular risk, inflammation, and other aspects of this medical issue. This course also provides clinical trials and real-life examples to present this issue in a more visually appealing manner. This course is under the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education as well as the American Association of Nurse Practitioners and provides a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 credit after the completion of the course.
Course Highlights:
- Establish a role between inflammation and coronary heart disease
- Develop a link between risk factors and inflammation
- Know about the various cardiovascular medicines
- Examine the relationship between inflammation and acute coronary syndromes
- Learn about this issue through real-life examples
- Review and critically analyze the latest clinical trials
Course Duration: Self Paced
6. Palliative Care Always Specialization– Coursera
Stanford University has offered an online self-learning course on the topic of palliative care specialization. This is the perfect course for physicians, health professionals, nurse practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, and other medical staff who want to enrich themselves on this topic. With a flexible schedule and a hundred per cent online courses, this long-duration course under the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education benefits all its participants
Course Highlights:
- Learn about the nature and scope of palliative care
- Get to know the essentials of palliative and supportive care
- Familiarise yourself with the sign and symptoms of management of palliative care
- Understand the relationship between palliative care and a family’s care plan
- Learn the effective skills of communication discussing and implementing a goal
- Comprehend the importance of psychosocial support.
Duration: 6 months
7. Prescription Drug Misuse and Addiction: Compassionate Care for a Complex Problem- edX
Stanford University has organized yet another online program that takes a bio-psychosocial approach to discuss the problems of prescription drug use and abuse and their consequent addiction. This CME activity includes clinical interviews and California‘s Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to identify and resolve the problems in this sphere of medicine. Stanford Medicine is jointly under the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, and the American Nurses Credentialing Center to enrich all those people who are in search of such information.
Course Highlights:
- Know what is the clinical interview
- Learn about the techniques to conduct a clinical interview
- Review the challenges in today’s addiction psychiatry and pain management
- Gain insights about California’s prescription drug monitoring program
- Analyze this program and identify if a problem exists
- Develop ways to overcome these problems and challenges
Course Duration: 1 week
8. Pain Management Learning Hub– ACP Online
The American College of Physicians has launched a pain management learning series that consists of seven modules and two sets of case studies to enrich people with the problem of pain management. Through a biopsychosocial approach, it explains the principles of pain management and the skills required to treat acute and chronic pain. Along with the modules, it is the case studies that provide a holistic perspective and grace of eternities to physicians and medical professionals to practice the skills required for pain assessment, treatment, and communication. While it is a series of lectures, these modules have individual credit.
Course Highlights:
- Understand the basics of pain management
- Giving supplementary information on the various aspects of pain management
- Gain the skills required to assess, diagnose and treat chronic and acute pain
- Overcome the societal stigmas and bust myths
- Familiarise yourself with non-pharmacological therapies
- Learn about opioid therapy and opioid use disorder
Course Duration: Self Paced
9. Pneumococcal Disease: Prevalence and Prevention- Healio
This is an online continuing medical education activity provided by Vindico medical education with the support of an education grant from Merk & Co., Inc. Pneumococcal disease, its origin, prevalence, prevention, and treatment is the centre of this topic. This disease has posed are a threat to communities all over the world and this CME activity aims to answer all the questions, that come into the minds of the participants. This course is for family medicine solutions, pharmacists, dentists, healthcare professionals, and patients with pneumococcal disease.
Course Highlights:
- Know about the origins of pneumococcal diseases
- Review the burden of pneumococcal diseases on the population
- Identify the people who are at higher risk for this disease
- Analyze the safe and effective use of pneumococcal disease vaccinations
- Examine the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices recommendations
- Explorer the strategies and techniques to educate people about these diseases and encourage them to vaccinate themselves
Course Duration: Self Paced
10. Overcoming Bias and Stigma in Obesity- AAPA
The AAPA Has organized and launched an online self-learning course on the topic of Obesity bias and stigma to educate people about the increasing rates of obesity and how to manage it. This program solely focuses on the strategies, tips, and tricks to control and minimize weight and help develop healthy habits. This continuing medical education activity has an educational grant from Novo Nordisk and provides credit to all who complete the course. This Free Online CME is an interactive course that enhances its participants through case studies and real-life scenarios.
Course Highlights:
- Become aware of the increasing obesity cases around the world
- Learn the ways to minimize fat and reduce weight
- Discuss the psychological effects of obesity on a person
- Identify the weight bias, stigmas, and discrimination
- Develop ways to overcome these biases and stereotypes
- Know about the organizations and institutions which help overcome obesity
Course Duration: Self Paced
11. Implementing Best Practices into Clinical Care Enduring Material- University of Louisville
The University of Louisville School of Medicine Continuing Medical Office has provided an opportunity for all people to learn about the most commonly used patient-reported outcomes and disease activity measures. This Free Online CME course provides audio and visual representations which make it interesting, and engaging for the participants. After the four-module course, the participants are supposed to attempt the test, after which they will receive the CME/CE certificate. This activity will have a total of four modules, each offering 0.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit.
Course Highlights:
- Learn about the ways to measure disease activity
- Know what is Rheumatology Telerheumatology
- Become aware of the updates and advances in Rheumatology Telerheumatology
- Learn to identify the patients and tell them about Rheumatology Telerheumatology
- Survey the patients and review their opinions and suggestions
- Check your knowledge of the end of the course
Course Duration: Self Paced
12. To Prescribe or Not To Prescribe? Antibiotics and Outpatient Infections- edX
Stanford University School of Medicine has offered an online self-paced course that aims at making people aware of the dilemma of prescribing antibiotics. Along with the prescriptions, this Free Online CME course focuses on the role of the patient and the management of common outpatient infections through interactive videos, educative interviews, and case studies. The course is under the Accreditation Council of Continuing Medical Education and provides credit to all those individuals who complete the course and attempt the evaluation at the end of it.
Course Highlights:
- Know what common outpatient diseases are
- Learn about the management and treatments of common outpatient infections
- Explore through real-life case studies and examples
- Understand the importance of patients in this topic
- Examine the nature and scope of antibiotics in the outpatient settings
- Identify the antimicrobials and how they affect the outpatient infections
Course Duration: 1 week
13. Antibiotic Stewardship- Coursera
Stanford University School of Medicine has yet another course to offer to all those individuals who are seeking continuing medical education on a virtual platform. This is a short-duration self-paced course that focuses on antimicrobial stewardship and the clinical practices used for the optimization of antibiotic practices. This course is at an advanced level and requires some prior knowledge of the topic. Flexible deadlines make it easier for the participants to attend this course because they can watch it at their convenience.
Course Highlights:
- Familiarise yourself with the concept of antimicrobial use
- Learn about the principles of antimicrobial uses
- Know what ASP is and its essential features
- Realize the ways to optimally manage common infections
- Become aware of the administration of the antibiotics
- Get to know the advanced ASP activities
Course Duration: 6 hours
14, Immune-based Therapies in the Management of Patients With Severe COVID-19- Healio
This is an online self-learning course that deals with the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Presented by Vindico medical education with financial aid from Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, this course indulges in telling people about the healthcare crisis and educates people on ways to prevent and deal with it. This course is for all those physicians, pharmacists, assistants, nurses, patients, and all those individuals interested to know about this prevailing disease. The course provides a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit to all who successfully finish the course.
Course Highlights:
- Learn about the origin and nature of COVID-19
- Understand the immunopathology of COVID-19 infection
- Identify the different stages of this infectious disease
- Examine the signs and symptoms of this disease
- Assess the latest clinical evidence and updates on COVID-19
- Check your knowledge through post-tests
Course Duration: 1 hour
15. Cultural and Linguistic Competence- Scientia CME
This is a very unique and innovative course available on a digital platform that discusses cross-cultural situations and how they influence behaviours, attitudes, and policies. Focusing on diverse cultures and identities, it also indulges in making people adept with the communication skills and assessment tools used while working in a healthcare setting. This course provides the enduring material for a maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit toward the AMA Physician’s Recognition Award. Physicians, clinicians, pharmacists, and medical workers can benefit from this course.
Course Highlights:
- Learn about the diverse cultures, races, and ethnicities
- Know how they influence access and opportunity
- Identify the role of cultural competence in this topic
- Recognize the self-assessment tools and techniques
- Enhance your communication skills
- Realize the need for safety and prevention from exposure to violence and trauma
Course Duration: Self Paced
