Evaluation of Continuing Medical Education (CME) Systems across the 27 European Countries

Abstract

The EU Research Project Tell Me aims to create a common communication channel and joint intervention strategies to respond to potential pandemic influenza events. This aim can be supported by using e-learning, which is an increasingly popular approach for continuing medical education. It is characterised by practical and theoretical advantages related to its flexibility, accessibility, adaptability, reduced time and costs and the potential to rapidly disseminate and update educational resources. The aim of this article is to review and identify the policies of continuing medical education systems in Europe. We will specifically focus on e-learning, which may be useful to understand whether there is a favourable evidence and context for the development of a common European continuing medical education e-learning framework. We conducted a survey to collect information about the Continuing Medical Education (CME) system’s policy of 27 European Union countries using electronic databases. A CME system is present in 26 of the27 EU countries. Most of the countries have 1) similar CME system requirements (16), 2) the same accreditation unit (21) and 3) recognize CME distance learning (E-learning) (22). There are still some differences between continuing medical education systems of European countries; however, there is a favourable evidence and context for the development of a common European continuing medical education e-learning framework.