Press Releases and Articles

CPD or CME, has been on the agendas of the European Medical Organisations for many years. A unified Europe, with increasing professional mobility, needed a unified view on Continuing Medical Education.

This was expressed both in CPME´s The Dublin Declaration on CME from 1982, revised 1993 and in The UEMS Charter of CME from 1994.

During the late 1990s a renewed interest was seen, for several reasons, in physicians´ life long learning, by the profession and other stakeholders.

For the profession the most important reasons were the increasing difficulties to get adequate time and resources for CME, the importance of life long learning through the broader perspective of CPD and finally a growing concern on a relative dependence on industry for CME.

Interest was also seen by governments, patients and politicians to introduce external regulation and control of physicians such as recertification or revalidation in a questionable action to safeguard competence.

Once more, important work was done by several European Medical Organisations to clarify the position of the medical profession on CME/CPD.

In 1999 UEMO adopted a CME policy for General Practitioners in Europe and PWG a Policy Statement on CME/CPD. AEMH did the same in 1999 with a Statement on CME/CPD that was followed in 2004 by a Statement on Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the Process of Professional Development.

UEMS has also done important and comprehensive work in the field with The Basel Declaration in 2001 on quality improvement and Promoting Good Medical Care in 2004 on quality assurance.

A key document on CPD for the medical profession, which is concrete, sets a clear standard and is very relevant for a sound development of physicians´ life long learning is The World Federation for Medical Education´s Global Standards for Quality Improvement from 2003.

In 2000 CPME took the initiative, in order to unite all European Medical Organisations, to a joint policy statement. A working group with participation of all Associated Organisations was set up to formulate the policy and articulate the one voice of the medical profession on CPD.  The document Policy statement on CME and CPD (CPME 2002/057) was adopted in 2001 along with a concrete action plan (CPME 2001/083).

The main aim of the policy is to clarify the joint view of the entire medical profession on how its own CPD best should be conducted.

The most important feature of this policy statement is that life long learning of physicians is not only done through traditional CME with development of the medical knowledge, mainly through external courses. It must also be done as CPD, including additional development of important non medical areas such as personal, social and managerial skills, as well as problem orientated integrated learning in every day clinical work.

Another important feature is that CPD must be seen as an ethical duty and responsibility but also a fundamental right for all physicians. Are we given, by employers or other funders, relevant resources for CPD there is no need for any obligatory measures.

Further, CPD must be seen as one of the strongest and best tools for quality improvement of health care, for the benefit of our patients. Investing in and always having updated and competently performing physicians and other health care professionals is a corner stone of health care quality and patient safety.

CPD must also be structured and documented, but on a voluntary basis. This is necessary not only to demonstrate to the authorities and patients that physicians take part in CPD but also to secure the right of physicians to CPD and to establish sustainable learning environments.

Finally, self regulation and quality assurance of CPD is natural but must be in the hands of the profession. There is no evidence that external regulation through systems of recertification or revalidation will identify underperforming doctors.

The aim of the action plan for the CPD policy was partly to stimulate further discussion within the profession, along the lines presented, both on the national and the European level. This has been done on the European level at WHO-EFMA and other meetings.

But an equally important aim was to actively present the policy, inform and influence all other stakeholders, such as national authorities, EU institutions, citizens and patients, employers, health care funders and providers of CPD-activities.

An important part of the CPME lobby work, during the last years, on how to facilitate and develop a well functioning patient as well as professional mobility has been to stress our policy that the question of CPD has to be on the agenda of the High Level Group of Health Services and Medical Care.

Co-operation between Member States and the EU institutions on CPD is essential in order to reach the highest possible health care quality and safety with equal conditions for all patients, throughout Europe.

The Report from the HLG to the Employment, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection Council on 6-7 December 2004 is therefore very satisfying reading. The HLG has identified CPD as a matter of quality for health professionals and intend to do further work on the issue by a special working group on Health Professionals, with the intention to invite CPME to take an active part in it.

The importance of CPD for physicians and other health professionals seems finally to have established itself on the agenda of the European institutions. Political activity by the profession, spoken with one voice, is therefore fundamental for optimal outcome.

Taking this latest development into consideration it is even more important that the CPD conference, originally suggested as a part of the action plan from 2001, which CPME last autumn decided to organise in co-operation with all Associated Organisations and hopefully with participation of EU institutions, will take place in the near future, hopefully during the latter part of 2006.

The task of the working group, which will have its first meeting in June, is clear. Although there are differences in conditions of CPD for the medical profession in EU Member States, we share the same policy on how we want it organised and done.

The time has passed for any further discussion on details within the profession. Now is the time to take our views to the outside world. We must inform and convince our national authorities, EU institutions, politicians, patients, citizens, employers, funders of health care and CPD providers of the importance of a well functioning CPD for the medical profession and that it is a matter of health care quality and safety for our patients.

Thank you for your attention.