BoardVitals CME Pro PLUS Review

By: LifeofaMedStudent

In this post, I’m going to review and explain the Boardvitals CME Pro Plus package that comes with a complimentary gift card to either Amazon or Apple. CME (Continuing Medical Education) packages with gift cards have become more common as physicians, nurse practitioners, etc, look for ways to maximize any CME allowances they may have.

(Of note, BoardVitals is a Sponsor of LifeofaMedStudent, however, this is not a Sponsored Post and I received no “extra” compensation for writing this. I also used the product before telling the BoardVitals team about doing so, that way my experience would be authentic.)

What is the BoardVitals CME Pro Plus product?

This product pairs the already well established BoardVitals CME plans with a complimentary gift card from Amazon or Apple. The BoardVitals CME plans are board-style question banks to work through at your discretion. Each comes with evidence-based rationals for correct/incorrect answers to help practitioners keep up-to-date on the latest medical information. Then you get AMA Catagory 1 credit for having done them. Most specialty plans (there are over 30 to choose from) receive 30-100 AMA credits, some even include MOC (Maintenance of Certification) credit as well.

While this was my first time using the CME product, I’ve had great things to say about BoardVitals question banks in the past – having used their Anesthesiology Qbanks to help me pass my boards a few years back.

The “Plus” part and the corresponding gift card of the CME product is where the real focus of this review is. With CME Pro Plus, the price of the CME plans is increased and you receive a gift card for that amount. They have two options for doing this, one is choosing one of their ready-made plans. There are three of these:

24-month plan for $3800, which comes with a $2000 gift card.
18-month plan for $2895, which comes with a $1500 gift card.
12-month plan for $1995, which comes with a $1000 gift card.

OR, you can simply enter your own budget – whatever amount you can afford (or have remaining in a CME allowance) and a corresponding gift card amount will be calculated. Say you had $2500 remaining in your CME stipend/fund, just ender this number and the result is a 15-month subscription with a $1280 gift card. Try any amount and see the result here!

So who is the ideal audience for this CME Pro Plus product?

This is an attending physician or advanced practice provider level product, designed for those of us who have set CME funds/allowances for reimbursement. You want to make the most of this money that is set aside for you, receive a quality educational product, while also rewarding yourself for the hard work you do. If you do not have set CME funds, the regular packages without the gift card are still an excellent option for cost-effective, high quality continuing education credit.

Typically, in the first years of my CME stipend, I used these funds for attending conferences – often with my family alongside me to make a “mini” vacation out of the process. But with our newest family addition born this year, there was never a great time for me to get to a conference. I needed a way to maximize this CME fund, get AMA credits for the year (I’m required by bylaws to do 25/year), and I didn’t mind the idea of the complimentary gift card as further incentive. So in short, I was the perfect target for this product.

How does the process go?

I purchased an Echocardiography CME plan for $1995 (discounted on “Black Friday” to $1795). Most of you know I’m in the specialty of anesthesia, but I do quite a bit of echo for peri-op eval and cardiac cases, and thought this would be a great opportunity to expand/test my knowledge. I immediately turned in my receipt to our practice manager for reimbursement – note the receipt (shown below) does not mention the gift card, only the CME Pro Plus product and price.

Within a day of purchase of the CME Pro Plus, I received an email from BoardVitals to confirm the following:

I responded immediately and received a quick followup that my Apple gift card should be shipped within 2 weeks. Sure enough, about two weeks after placing my order, a $1000 Apple gift card arrived on my doorstep. In the meantime, I had already been reimbursed by my employer for the $1795.

Having completed the process, I couldn’t believe how smooth and fast it all was – much quicker than the 4-6 weeks BoardVitals typically says to expect for processing. My only mistake was I should have used a custom plan to leverage the 10% off promo code to get a slightly higher gift card amount.

I’ve started doing a few Echo questions, and like my prior experience with BoardVitals Qbanks – find their product easy to use, accurate and informative, and high yield. Again, even if you do not have CME funds for reimbursement, I’d still recommend their lower-cost (no gift card) CME packages as an excellent educational/CME resource.

If you do have CME funds available, is there any downside to this package?

The best use of CME funds is for education, and I do think you should plan to get some educational benefit from this process. Or consider using your CME stipends in a different way that will improve your education. This was the main issue of discussion I saw arise in a physician facebook group. Is using a CME gift card package a “morally” correct way to spend these funds? The product price is, after all, increased purposely for you to receive the difference – essentially at your company/hospital’s expense.

Personally, I do not have any issue with this. These CME funds are for you, to use at your discretion, in a way that is educationally beneficial. These packages from BoardVitals check all those boxes in my mind and their primary objective is to offer a top-notch educational product.

Also, my opinion is that physicians are often uncompensated or unrewarded for so much of the extra work we do. I sit on several unpaid committees, spend post-call time in the hospital for meetings, and work from home unpaid on occasion as well. Getting a complimentary gift card is certainly a well-deserved way for me to use CME funds that have already been included as part of my compensation.

So in review, the CME Pro Plus package from BoardVitals is an excellent use of CME funds available to many practitioners. It allows you access to top-notch educational material, while rewarding the hard work you do with a complimentary CME gift card from Apple or Amazon. The gift card is not mentioned on any receipts, and the process is exceptionally smooth from start to finish.

Check out how to maximize your CME fund with the CME Pro Plus package from BoardVitals!

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