Journal-based continuing medical education.

Continuing Medical Education (CME) has become a practical necessity for most physicians, because CME credit is required by many licensing and other medical authorities and because physicians are expected to follow the most recently published practice guidelines. A useful and relatively inexpensive source of CME credit is provided by journals such as JAMA and Archives of Family Medicine. In this article, the costs of CME to the physician's practice are estimated, and the educational objectives, format, and evaluation procedure of the JAMA Reader's Choice CME activity are described.