In my opinion if CME is targeted to fill or correct gaps in current practice there would be no difference, but if it is sponsored to guide or suggest use of drugs, programs or resources only for profit objectives, although free of charge. there would be no sense in doiing this.

whether it is paid / free CME , it make no difference until it serves the purpose of filling up the gap of knowledge. As a pathologist, I always prefer to get a solution in the grey zone area of diagnosis of a disease from a CME

The common denominator between free CME, usually online, and paid-for-CME is income. Free online CME providers generate their incomes from advertisers and paid- for-CME providers generate their income from paying attendees. Because of competition for customers , both formats provide high quality topics. So it is irrelevant which one decides to attend. Otherwise it is a matter of choice: Some learn better in online formats and some do so in lecture formats.

Thanks.

Ben Olwe

It would be nice if providers of CME were more explicit regarding their educational/instructional methodologies used for the development of educational programs (regardless of whether paid or free). All CME program development costs money, especially to develop high-quality online programs. While many of the programs are industry sponsored, our www.machealth.ca online CME programs are funding by grants and non-profits. I would argue that higher quality instructional design also costs more, in terms of developing multimedia that align with best practices in multimedia learning. To some degree, paid-for CME is probably a better, more realistic approach, to funding high quality, well-designed online CME in particular.