History of SEMCME

A brief history of the Southeast Michigan Continuing Medical Education Consortium (SEMCME).

The origins of SEMCME date back several decades (1960s) with collaborative discussions among medical education leaders at current SEMCME member hospitals in Oakland County and Oakland University. These discussions and resultant education programs followed the evolution of medical education at undergraduate (UME) graduate (GME), and postgraduate (CME) levels.

Important SEMCME inflection points occurred and still occur as national accreditation bodies for UME–Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), and GME—Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) change their regulatory oversight requirements. SEMCME also offers timely courses for CME as needed.

The Oakland Health Education Program (OHEP) was formally incorporated in 1974. As new regional hospital members were added, and a formal affiliation (1990) was established with the Wayne State University School of Medicine, OHEP became truly regional in Southeast Michigan.

Given its regional scope, in 1974 the name was changed to the Southeast Michigan Continuing Medical Education Consortium (SEMCME). Today it includes all six Southeast Michigan health systems and their teaching hospitals.

As our new strategic plan is implemented, SEMCME is again focusing on current education opportunities and challenges. SEMCME has recently established a Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) committee and is placing singular focus on teaching to GME trainees –the science and techniques for Quality and Performance Improvement. Quality and Performance Improvement education has been clearly identified as a priority in the recent ACGME CLER report.

Key goals include supporting our members with educational offerings for maintaining ACGME accreditation and for their trainees and physicians to achieve and maintain certification.

Please follow this link for an in-depth timeline of the full history of SEMCME.