Who Funds Your Doctor’s Training?

Nearly half of all continuing medical education in America is funded by the companies whose products doctors prescribe. IMA Academy is building the alternative.

Every year, the doctors we rely on are required to complete continuing medical education, or CME, to keep their licenses current. Every state medical board demands it. It is how new evidence travels from the journal to the exam room, and for most patients it is entirely invisible. Nobody asks their physician where they earned their last twelve credits, or who paid for the room.

But somebody pays for it, and a great deal of it is paid for by the companies whose products doctors prescribe.

Taken together, more than 40% of continuing medical education funding comes from pharmaceutical and medical-device companies.

When medical education depends on that kind of money, we have to ask how it influences the subjects being taught, the speakers being elevated, and the treatments being emphasized. Could this help explain why oncologists overlook the potential of repurposed medicines? Or why psychiatrists often reach for the prescription pad before exploring alternatives?

Continuing medical education was once largely a profession teaching itself, led by medical societies, universities, and hospitals. Its purpose was simple: keep physicians current and improve patient care. By the mid-2000s, industry supplied about half its funding, and a Senate investigation found drug companies using educational grants to build markets and influence what doctors were taught.

Which brings us to IMA Academy

We are building the long-overdue independent alternative: accredited courses taught by independent physicians, with no pharmaceutical or medical-device sponsorship.

Donors make that possible by funding course development, the accreditation work behind every credit, independent faculty who answer to evidence rather than sponsors, and free public access.