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As the biggest event in behavioral health care, NatCon offers a unique mix of learning opportunities — from smaller workshops on treatment trends to larger sessions on health care innovations. Did you know NatCon also offers the most continuing education (CE) and continuing medical education (CME) credits in our field? We sat down with our very own Kelly Simerman (pictured), senior conference associate, to learn more about the credit application process and her team’s commitment to higher education.
With more than 140 CE credits available at NatCon each year, attendees have a lot of options to choose from. How do you determine which CEs and CEUs to offer?
“Every year, we analyze the landscape of work fields and credentials of our attendees, and we also track the number of requested CE credit types. For example, we can get requests for CEs from the National Association of Social Workers, the American Psychological Association, the National Board for Certified Counselors and so on. This gives us a sense of what CE credits to continue offering, or if there’s a need to seek out new CE credit types to provide NatCon attendees.”
Can you walk us through what the credit application process looks like?
“Sure! So, after we determine which conference presentations meet the initial submission requirements for our various accrediting bodies, we complete the application materials for each accrediting body. And then one by one, we submit the list of eligible presentations — along with the respective application documentation — to each accrediting body for review. After they complete their reviews, they inform us which presentations are approved for their respective CE credits, along with the number of CE credits each presentation is approved to offer. As you can imagine, it’s a very lengthy and detailed process.”
NatCon is renowned for providing attendees with higher education opportunities. In your opinion, what makes our continuing education program so unique?
“It’s because our NatCon attendees are unique! Our attendee base primarily includes social workers, physicians, counselors, HR professionals, nurses, psychologists, addictions counselors and compliance professionals, among other representatives from the mental health and substance use care field. We strive to offer a wide array of national CE and CME credits that our attendees seek to obtain to fulfill their requirements for licensure.”
What’s it like when you’re finally on site and get to see the attendees learning?
“It’s incredible! There’s a great feeling of accomplishment and pride watching NatCon attendees line up to enter a Workshop room, a TED-style Talk space or a large General Session hall to listen and learn from thought leaders, change agents and other health care experts. It keeps us motivated as we continue seeking new ways to improve and expand our conference program.”
Are you ready to experience the biggest event in behavioral health care? Save the dates for NatCon25 from May 5-7 in Philadelphia! Registration will open in the fall.
