If you’re a licensed medical professional, you know education doesn’t stop when you finish your schooling. To keep your medical license, you must stay up to date on your certifications and education. For diagnostic medical sonographers (also called ultrasound technicians), radiologic technologists, and other medical imaging professionals, this often means meeting the CME and CEU credentialing requirements.
In this article, we’ll define what CME and CEU are and determine the difference between the courses.
CME VERSUS CEU
CME
CME (Continuing Medical Education) is a form of education that ensures medical professionals have updated training and education that applies to their specific field. Generally, these courses include medical knowledge and technicals they can use for their practice. Depending on the field, there is a specific number of credit hours required to maintain a sonography certification.
The American Medical Association (AMA), assigns Category 1 and Category 2 credits. Category 1 credits are for participating in certified and sponsored continuing education activities given by accredited CME providers. Category 2 credits are those for activities the AMA has not certified for Category 1.
Note: One CME credit is equal to one hour, also known as a contact hour.
CEU
CEU (Continued Education Unit) CEU is a measure of how much continuing education you've completed. Similar to CME, a continued education unit is a way for medical professionals, who have already completed their education, to stay up to date on new skills and practices. CEU is often referred to as CE (continued education), but there is a difference. CE is just the abbreviation for continuing education, so it's more of a generic term. On the other hand, is a term for professional development. One CEU is equivalent to 10 contact hours. Therefore, 10 hours of CME or CE earns you one CEU.
What’s the Difference Between CME and CEU?
CME and CEU are sometimes interchangeable. Broadly, they both are under the same umbrella of continued education. The difference between CME and CEU is that Continuing Education applies to all licensed medical professionals, whereas Continuing Medical Education applies primarily to physicians. In essence, all CME is CE, but not all CE is CME.
SonoSim Ultrasound Training
SonoSim ultrasound training integrates didactic courses, hands-on training, and knowledge assessment in an effective, easy-to-use, and engaging way. While there are plenty of free and subscription-based online courses, our platform varies greatly in quality. The inability to obtain essential hands-on scanning training is the major shortcoming of online ultrasound courses. SonoSim Ultrasound Training provides integrated hands-on scanning, assessment, and didactic educational experiences created by leading experts in ultrasound education.
Does SonoSim offer CMEs?
Yes! SonoSim topics are all eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. The amount of CME credit offered varies per topic and can be purchased with your group license through your SonoSim Ultrasound Training Advisor. If you are an individual healthcare practitioner, CME credits are included when you become a SonoSim Member and select ultrasound training content from SonoSim.
Learn more about SonoSim Ultrasound Training.