About CDC Continuing Education Accreditation

Key points

  • CDC assists program staff and funded partners who want to offer continuing education (CE) for the educational activities they develop.
  • CDC works with education developers to ensure their activities meet educational accreditation standards.
  • Accreditation helps to connect the public health workforce with quality training to maintain their licenses and certificates.
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Overview

CDC provides accreditation services for CDC funded activities and materials. This includes coaching and technical assistance. CDC works with education developers -- referred to as CE developers -- to ensure their educational activities meet rigorous accreditation standards. CDC is accredited by five organizations to provide 10 types of CE. Accreditation services are available to CDC programs and funded partners at no cost.

Mission‎

To oversee the development of CDC's continuing education activities to increase knowledge and skills, maintain licensures and certifications, and ultimately enhance the competency of the public health workforce's interprofessional teams.

Goals

  • To provide quality education that improves workforce knowledge, skills, and competence to strengthen public health practice.
  • To promote career development through life-long learning.

Why it matters

Accreditation is a marker of quality programming and gives CE activities a competitive edge. Offering CE can help your trainings stand out to learners and serves as an incentive for your audience to participate.

CE activities are designed to increase health professionals' knowledge and competence. Ultimately, a more knowledgeable workforce can better protect the public's health. Accredited CE is supported by evidence-based research to address gaps in learner knowledge, competence, and performance.

Education developers will:

get helpful feedback throughout the accreditation process that will improve the quality of the program.

Public health professionals can:

  • identify programs that meet their profession's standards for quality education.
  • maintain licensure, certification, credentialing, and membership in professional societies.
  • learn about developments in their field without commercial influence.

The public will:

  • know that health professionals are staying up to date on developments and best practices in their field.
  • know that public health professionals are gaining the knowledge and skills needed to improve health outcomes.
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Content Source:
Public Health Infrastructure Center; Division of Workforce Development