Mission & Duties

CME COMMITTEE

 

Mission & Duties

 

Introduction

 

• Purpose of CME is to promote lifelong learning to focus on patient care.
• CME is a moral and ethical duty of every practitioner, which should be submitted for National regulation
• Every Doctor should engage actively in CME appropriate to their identified learning needs.
• Sufficient time & resources are needed to update CME continuously.
• In some countries CME is recommended, in others it is voluntary, in others mandatory
• National sanctions on non-compliant Medical Practitioners should be imposed where CME is mandatory.

 

The role of the CME Committee is to

• increase awareness of specialists in Europe for the need for Continuing Medical Education
• promote and ensure a high and uniform standard of education amongst specialists within
  member countries
• improve the quality of medical care in Europe
•  CME credits should be transferable
  – between European countries
  – between different specialties
  – between European systems and comparable systems globally

These official European bodies in charge of Continuing Medical Education are:

1) European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME),
2) UEMS section/board committee CME the EBO-CME committee.
3) National Accrediting Authorities (NAA).

 

1) The EACCME, created in 1999 by the management council of the UEMS, is operational since year 2000.
Its main goal is the harmonization and improvement of the quality of specialist medical care.

EACCME is

 

• An International Accreditation authority recognised in 21 Countries
• The dominant force for specialist education in Europe.
• Linked with American Medical Association AMA
• & Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons Canada RCPSI
• No industry sponsored events are accredited.
• EACCME receives 1800 applications per annum

• Operational by working as a « clearing-house » for accreditation of international events with European CME points by working with
  – NAA (National Accreditation Authorities)
  – UEMS Sections/Boards of specialties (EBO)European Board of Ophthalmology

 

2) The National Accreditation Authorities (NAA) set the rules for their own countries.

• Legal obligations for CME are in the following countries:
  Austria, Croatia, Czech R, France, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Switzerland
• Professional obligations for CME are in the following countries:
  Germany, Ireland, Spain, UK
• Voluntary obligations for CME are in the following countries:
  Bulgaria, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey

 

3) The EBO CME Committee has the task to promote and ensure a high and uniform standard of education amongst specialists within member countries. By reaching this goal, it allows an improvement of the quality of ophthalmic care in Europe.

 

The duty of the committee is to control the quality of CME activities in member countries by working together with the committees, scientific societies and universities or equivalent centers of each country.

 

The committee defines the requirements for European CME in accordance with the European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME) and the National Accrediting Authorities (NAA) and validates those meetings/congresses /courses that fulfil these requirements.

• Reviewers are nominated by the EBO section of Ophthalmology.
• A Committee of 6 represents the subspecialties in Ophthalmology.

 

EACCME 2.0 has been introduced in 2017 by UEMS, this ensures that the

 

• Process of application / review / accreditation more efficient& faster.
• Supported by a new IT platform fit for purpose.
• The quality control process will be more robust.
• Accreditation to expand to a wider spectrum of educational material
• Recognition of CME/CPD will extend beyond live events & e-learning courses.

 

• Recognition of the following activities will include
• Publishing scientific & educational material(PUB)
• Reviewing scientific & educational material (REV)
• Learning by teaching(lbT)
• Examiner in a UEMS exam (2 credits per exam.)
• E learning- apps, platforms, & e libraries

 

 

Denise Curtin

Chairperson, June 2017