Waukesha-based OnCourse Learning has acquired Jenkintown, Pa.-based emergency medical service education provider Distance CME. The transaction terms were not disclosed.
OnCourse provides continuing education, pre-licensing and corporate training for a variety of professions, from nursing to home inspection, through online courses. It has made nine acquisitions since 2007 to fold several industry-specific training providers into a multi-disciplinary training company focused on the health care, real estate and financial services industries. It now has 278 employees.
All of Distance CME’s 17 employees and its office location will be retained by OnCourse in the transaction, said Scott McConnell, co-founder of Distance CME. The transaction price was not disclosed.
“Distance CME is a trusted voice among EMS professionals,” said Patrick Sheahan, president and chief executive officer of OnCourse Learning. “We’re thrilled about this great addition to our team, which helps broaden our content offerings and serves the needs of even more health care professions.”
Distance CME was founded in 2010 after McConnell’s friend, who was working as a civilian paramedic in the Middle East, mentioned his certifications had been lapsing while he was away. It now offers live online courses to 5,000 students across the world.
“That was the lightbulb over my head,” McConnell said. “Though it started with the Middle East, virtually any EMS professional inside or outside of the U.S. quickly found the DCME course offerings to be convenient, trusted sources for their recertification training. OnCourse Learning is going to get the word out easier, more efficiently and to more people.”
“Distance CME specializes in providing live, intensive webinar coursework to EMS and related health care professionals,” said Ken Ramirez, OnCourse Learning’s executive vice president, Healthcare. “Adding these well-respected offerings to our robust catalog of health care learning activities is another example of OnCourse Learning’s commitment to expanding our reach, scope and impact on the practice of as many health care clinicians as possible.”
