Nobody Grows Up Wanting to Be a CME Professional
“When I grow up, I want to be a CME professional,” says no child ever. Most people stumble into this field by chance, coming from clinical roles, administrative work or meeting planning. The introduction to CME is rarely by design. It is a running joke among many of us, but it also reveals something more serious. Very few of us choose this profession because it is clearly defined or widely understood. Instead, we often find ourselves drawn here because it aligns with something we care about: education, impact, service or healthcare.
But once we are here, how do we explain what we do? Ask 10 CME or CPD professionals to describe their role, and you may hear 10 different answers. Some focus on accreditation. Others build systems, manage platforms or create content. Some track outcomes and data. Others focus on strategy or work across departments to align education with institutional goals. Every answer is true, but none tells the whole story. There is no single definition that captures the depth and diversity of our work.
This is not just a matter of semantics. It reflects a profession that struggles to define itself. The lack of clarity affects how we are seen, how we are supported and how we lead. We are in an identity crisis where, until we name it, we cannot fix it.
The Symptoms of an Identity Crisis
Across the healthcare landscape, continuing medical education is often still viewed as a logistical function rather than a strategic one. CME professionals are frequently tasked with coordinating events, managing compliance and checking accreditation boxes, but are excluded from conversations about system-level change and performance improvement. This narrow view minimizes the expertise required to develop transformative education.
National leaders have called for CME to evolve into a systems-integrated function that directly supports organizational outcomes. Despite this call to action, integration remains limited. CME is still commonly organized around standalone activities rather than embedded as a tool for transformation. As a result, the profession struggles to demonstrate its full value and is often underrepresented in strategic discussions.
The persistence of traditional, lecture-based models reinforces this issue. Of course, these formats still serve a purpose, but they fall short in preparing healthcare teams to address today’s challenges. Without a shift in both perception and practice, CME professionals will continue to face unclear roles, misaligned expectations, and limited influence within their institutions.
How We Got Here
Continuing medical education began as a tradition of informal, self-directed learning among physicians. For much of the early 20th century, professional development in medicine relied on peer-to-peer exchange and the occasional conference. There were no consistent standards, defined competencies or structured pathways. Learning was largely left to individual initiative.
By the 1950s, CME had begun to formalize, with the American Medical Association publishing newly established CME guidelines. Medical schools, specialty societies and hospitals started offering structured courses, and accrediting bodies emerged to ensure consistency and quality. Over time, CME evolved into an organized system for documenting professional development. As a result, many of the responsibilities related to planning, logistics and compliance were assigned to administrative staff, establishing a foundation that was often viewed as operational rather than strategic.
As the field matured, accrediting bodies and healthcare leaders began to expect more. CME was no longer just about acquiring knowledge. Instead, it was expected to change behavior, improve practice and contribute to patient outcomes. This shift marked a critical evolution, but it also introduced new challenges. CME professionals had to navigate rising expectations around outcomes, measurement and institutional alignment, often without formal authority or clear pathways to leadership.
Internally, the profession remained fragmented. Titles, responsibilities and qualifications varied widely. Professionals came into the field through clinical, administrative or educational backgrounds, each bringing different strengths but few shared standards. As a result, CME has struggled to articulate a unified professional identity, even as its scope and importance have grown.
Why It Matters Now
The urgency to define and strengthen the professional identity of CME is no longer theoretical but a necessity. As health systems shift toward value-based care and population health, the role of education in improving clinical outcomes, advancing equity and supporting workforce development has grown more critical than ever. CME professionals are being asked to contribute to quality improvement, health equity, interprofessional collaboration and patient-centered care, all without the formal authority, recognition or infrastructure needed to lead these efforts effectively.
This growing mismatch between expectations and institutional positioning is unsustainable. Many professionals in the field are navigating rising workloads, vague roles and limited resources, all while feeling siloed from strategic decision-making. The result is a familiar pattern: burnout, imposter syndrome and disengagement. These are not isolated experiences but symptoms of a system that undervalues the expertise required to design, implement and evaluate transformative educational interventions.
CME is expected to have an impact, yet it often serves as logistical support rather than being recognized as a strategic partner. This tension undermines the field’s ability to attract and retain talent, secure necessary resources and build long-term leadership capacity. As the field continues to evolve, the lack of a shared identity and professional framework makes it increasingly difficult to advocate for growth or articulate our collective value to internal and external stakeholders. In short, the stakes are rising, but the foundation remains shaky. If we do not resolve this identity crisis, we risk stagnation in a time when healthcare most needs education to lead.
Behind the Strategic Backbone
Much of what powers continuing medical education happens out of sight. CME professionals are the architects behind the scenes. They build infrastructure, develop processes and ensure compliance long before the first learner logs in or steps into a session. At the same time, they stay current with shifting standards and accreditation updates. What is often overlooked is that many CME professionals are already leading. Yet they do so without formal titles or the authentic authority typically granted to institutional leaders.
Work Is Strategic and So Are We
To move beyond the identity crisis, the CME field must lead with intention. Here are some actionable strategies to define our value and shape our future:
🧭 Operationalize Shared Competencies
The Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions (Alliance) has outlined core competencies for our profession, yet they remain underutilized in many organizations. Broader adoption and integration into hiring, onboarding and professional development processes could solidify a common language and elevate expectations across the field.
📊 Embrace Strategic Tools
Use tools like project charters, stakeholder maps and logic models as part of daily practice.
💼 Redefine Leadership
Push for recognition of leadership that is not limited to clinical credentials. Many professionals already lead major initiatives without formal titles. It is time the field and its institutions made that leadership visible.
🔗 Bridge to Other Disciplines
Leverage frameworks from public health, operations and data analytics. These fields offer tested models that can inform how we structure programs, measure success and build influence.
📈 Align Metrics With System Goals
Refocus evaluation on system-level impact. Instead of relying on learner satisfaction, track how education advances clinical quality, equity and workforce preparedness.
🎓 Invest in Strategic Growth
Encourage credentialing and training that support elevated roles, such as CHCP, PMP or MHA, to help professionals operate effectively at the intersection of education, strategy and leadership.
📣 Strengthen Our Collective Voice
The Alliance and other similar organizations provide a strong foundation for advocacy. Building on that, the field can co-create shared identity statements, define new success benchmarks, and craft a unified message for internal and external stakeholders.
Define or Be Defined. That’s the Empowered Strategy.
If we do not define this profession, someone else will. And when others define it, they often reduce it to checklists, logistics or compliance. That narrow view misrepresents what we do and limits what we can become.
CME professionals are not just behind-the-scenes coordinators. We are strategists, educators and drivers of change. Our work enhances clinical care, promotes equity and strengthens healthcare systems. It is time to be empowered, name that value and stand behind it.
Start where you are. Shift the conversation in your next job interview or performance review. Speak up in planning sessions. Raise these questions in your teams, organizations and professional circles. This field will not evolve unless we lead the evolution.