Don't Delay in Registering for CME Courses

The CME courses continue to be one of the most appealing aspects of APA's annual meeting.

APA members attending the annual meeting consistently rate the CME courses as one of the meeting's most popular formats. Thus, many of the courses fill up quickly. At last year's meeting in San Diego, 59 percent of the available spaces were filled before the meeting opened. Unfortunately, some participants registered too late to obtain their preferred courses.

The 2008 annual meeting in Washington, D.C., is expected to encounter similar problems because the number of registrants continues to increase, and the course format increases in popularity each year as well.

This year there are 19 new courses and 76 highly evaluated returning courses on the program. Detailed information about them appeared in the January 18 Psychiatric News (accessible online at<www.pn.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/reprint/43/2/11> and in the Annual Meeting Advance Registration Information packet.

Courses provide an ideal opportunity for learning in small groups with ample time for direct exchanges with course faculty. Some courses will provide breakout rooms for small-group discussion, led by one of the faculty. A small number of very large courses are offered, led by skilled course directors who are accustomed to speaking before large audiences while keeping the format interactive. Although these courses admit as many as 150 participants, they are regularly sold out before the annual meeting.

Pre-enrollment for courses is open to all annual meeting registrants.

All registration and pre-enrollment forms must be received with payment by April 4. Online registration is accessible at<www.psych.org/Events/AnnualMeeting.aspx>.