1. What kind of courses does The VLH offer?
2. Do I have to pay before I take a VLH course?
3. Are VLH courses sponsored by pharmaceutical companies or device makers?
4. What is a CME sponsor/provider?
5. What kind of credit do VLH courses offer?
6. Does The VLH offer courses to meet special state requirements, like ethics, HIV/AIDS, risk management, and domestic violence?
7. How do I start a course?
8. Can I pause a course and complete it at a later time?
9. Do I have to take and pass an exam in order to earn CME credit?
10. How do I get my certificate of participation?
11. How much do courses cost?
12. Can I take a VLH program again for CME credit?

The VLH offers two basic types of courses:

1. Case-based skill-building courses where you make management decisions for one or more virtual patients, consulting tutorials and information resources during your study. Case-based skill-building courses offer a fixed amount of credit. Case-based programs usually have either a post activity CME exam or a pretest/posttest. If the course includes an exam, there is no passing score, but you do need to successfully complete the exam before earning CME credit (reattempting questions is allowed).
2. Quiz-based, self-assessment/learning programs where you answer as many questions as you like, accumulating CME credit with each correctly answered question. Quiz-based programs are designed to test your existing knowledge rather than to teach you new skills. There is no exam, per se, for these programs.

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To take any VLH course, you first need to become a VLH Annual Member, which costs $50, comes with site access for one year, and provides $60 in VLH CME certificate funds (enough for 4 credits of CME).

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No, they are not. The VLH does not offer any programs that have been underwritten by unrestricted educational grants from industry. All funding for VLH program development and operation comes from membership fees or federal research grants.

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A CME sponsor is usually an organization, such as an academic institution, that is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to issue American Medical Association (AMA) Category 1 credit. A CME sponsor can also be a medical education organization that may or may not be accredited by the ACCME, but that creates a CME program and has it approved by a professional organization, such as the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), which issues Prescribed credit (equivalent to AMA Category 1 credit for the purposes of the Physician's Recognition Award). The VLH and its content partners pay CME sponsors or the AAFP for the right to issue CME credit for programs that the sponsors or the AAFP have reviewed and/or approved.

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The VLH offers continuing medical education (CME) credit. We offer AMA Category 1 and AAFP Prescribed credit for physicans, PAs, and APNs. The course catalog contains information about the credit type offered for each course/program. AMA Category 1 and AAFP Prescribed credit are both applicable toward the AMA Physicians Recognition Award. These credit types are both acceptable for state licensing and board certification requirements for MDs. If you like, you can view the AMA and AAFP Credit Equivalency Statements.

Also, AMA Category 1 and AAFP Prescribed credit count as Category 2A credit for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA). DOs, as well as other health professionals, may wish to view information on relicensing requirements for various health professions.

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Yes, it does. The courses that qualify for state specific requirements are listed by state on the page entitled Courses Meeting Some or All of Your Special State Requirements. Click the states on the page to view their special CME requirements, as well as the courses we offer that meet some or all of those requirements.

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You can access VLH courses whenever you wish. There are no set times to start or end any course.

After you register as a VLH member, you can view the courses in the "Courses" drop-down menu. Click on the title of a course to read the general information pertaining to that course, then click through the "Enter" doors at the bottom of the screen. Follow the rest of the onscreen instructions to begin your study.

If the course format is quiz-based, you will need to have VLH certificate funds in your account before being allowed to access the program. For more information, please view this information on the "Pay-As-You-Go" format.

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Absolutely! All VLH case-based courses are programmed to allow you to stop and restart again when you wish. All you need to do is shut down your browser, and when you return to the site, you can access your paused courses directly from your homepage or from the "My Paused Courses" list in the "Courses" menu. Alternatively, you can return to the first page of the program you started, and you will see either a "paused" or status indicators about your progress in the program.

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Case based programs may have a pretest/posttest or post activity CME exam. There is no passing score for either exam type, but if there is an exam, you do need to successfully complete the exam before earning CME credit (reattempting questions is allowed).

Quiz-based, self-assessment/learning programs do not have a formal CME exam. You are awarded credit for these programs based on the number of questions you answer correctly.

The AMA and the ACCME do not require that CME programs contain examinations. They do require that CME programs "Provide for some type of learner interaction or self assessment; examples include patient-management case studies, a post-test, and/or application of new concepts in response to simulated problems. . . . Providers may choose to make credit contingent on passing a post-test or completing an exercise, but it is not required ( AMA Physician's Recognition Award Booklet, 2006 ). All VLH programs are designed to use the interactive capabilities of the Internet and facilitate the development of problem-solving skills. All VLH programs fully meet this AMA requirement.

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For all questions related to certificates, please view the Certificates FAQ.

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When you purchase a VLH Annual Membership, you receive access to the VLH site for one year and $60 of certificate funds, which is sufficient for 4 credits of CME at $15 per credit. For all quiz-based programs, you must have certificate funds in your account to access those programs, as the CME certificate charges are paid with each question you answer ("Pay-As-You-Go").

For all other questions related to cost/payment, please view the Payment FAQ.

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CME: Yes you can - under certain circumstances. Although CME courses on The VLH are considered "enduring materials" (vs. live lectures), they are continually reviewed and updated as medical knowledge and practices change. Many programs, therefore, change significantly over several years. A few programs change substantially over a much shorter period if there are important new findings or new treatments.

We have discussed this issue with the American Medical Association's Division of Continuing Professional Development (the group that oversees the Physician's Recognition Award). The AMA concurs that physicians can retake a VLH program for PRA/AMA Category 1 credit if the CME sponsor designates that the program has changed significantly and it has been two years or more since the physician last received credit for completing the program. Additionally, if there have been major new findings in the field, such that a CME program changes substantially, physicians may retake the program for credit at any time.

We work closely with the CME sponsors whose programs are offered via The VLH. Whenever a sponsor of AMA/PRA Category 1 credit recognizes that there have been significant changes (such that physicians may retake a course for credit after 2 years) or substantial changes (such that they may retake it immediately for credit) we will advise you of this via e-mail. We will also include this information on the course's Start (home) Page. If you have questions about this, please contact us at inquiry@vlh.com.

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To date our research has demonstrated that problem-oriented online courses can improve physician knowledge, attitudes, and skills in such areas as cancer prevention and domestic violence. We have shown that courses developed in the US can benefit physicians in another country.