The Professional Meeting Planners Network (PMPN), an organization of 1,500 independent meeting planners, is on the way to establishing a Certified Medical Meeting Manager (CMMM) program that is to be available to both independent and in-house planners involved with medical meetings.
The Durham, N.C.-based network facilitated a pilot program for medical meeting certification last year, which was successfully completed by 11 participants. PMPN is currently accepting applicants for a second pilot program that will start in July.
According to PMPN Chairman James Montague, the network would like to see either the CIC or MPI become an accrediting body for the CMMM program.
“Our goal is to have this sponsored by a nonprofit organization, since we’re a for-profit and we don’t want this to appear to be too self-serving,” he says, adding that a current bone of contention is that PMPN wants the program to be open to participants who have not already received the CMP designation.
“We don’t want the CMP to be a prerequisite, but for the CMMM to be offered alongside it,” he says. “We’re tying to work this out with potential sponsors. However, we plan to offer the program regardless of whether or not we get a nonprofit behind it.”
While participants in the pilot program do not need to be PMPN members, they do need a minimum of five years of meeting management experience, two of them specifically in the medical/healthcare field.
Organized into three modules, the program is a self-study course that culminates in an online exam. The subject matter addresses adult learning issues in the continuing medical education field, medical meetings logistics and medical meeting regulations.
According to Montague, the complex and changeable nature of government regulations imposed on the medical/pharmaceutical industries in recent times is they key reason that PMPN believes the CMMM program is needed.
“There are so many regulations surrounding medical meetings that planners need to make sure they are compliant,” he says. “We don’t go into great detail about the regulations in the course, as those are left up to the client to interpret. However, we want planners to gain a basic understanding of the regulations, to be aware of them and to know what questions to ask their clients.”
Elizabeth Baryshev, president of Business Travel & Incentive Planners in Grapevine, Texas, who was one of the participants in the first CMMM pilot program, agrees that specific medical meeting management certification is important in today’s regulatory climate.
“I really want to see the CMMM program gain accreditation because it would give those of us who do a lot of CME (Continuing Medical Education) more validity with clients,” she says. “Clients are looking for planners who have specialized training.”
Montague says the program is being created in response to heavy demand from PMPN members such as Baryshev.
“About 80 percent of what we do involves medical or pharmaceutical meetings,” he says. “CME, in particular, is a huge area.”
At the same time, planners working in-house for healthcare corporations and organizations are also encouraged to participate in the program, he says.
For More Info
Professional Meeting Planners Network 919.419.8242
www.pmpn.com
