PM&DC revises criteria for CME/CDE hours

Islamabad: Revised Criteria for Continuing Medical and Dental Education (CME/CDE) for Medical and Dental Practitioners in Pakistan. The notification issued by the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council states that the Management Committee of PM&DC in its meeting held on 22nd September 2015 at Islamabad discussed and noted that the concept of CME/CDE is gaining wide-spread international recognition and needs to be implemented in Pakistan too. This will serve as a tool for not only helping in updating a doctor’s skills but also serve to repose greater trust of the public in the medical/ dental profession.

The PM&DC as a regulatory body did attempt to start this process but there have been numerous difficulties encountered by the doctors in meeting all the requirements that were laid down for getting accredited CME/CDE points. The system needs to be modified so that it is more “user-friendly” and gradually be built up to rigorous international standards. This process may take up to 10 years but looking for shortcuts will cause it to fail.

The Committee perused the following scheme for CME/ CDE and decided that: All lectures delivered by a doctor to either medical students or to participants in a medical conference or a Clinico-Pathologic Conference (CPC)/Grand Round be counted as two points, Attendance at any scientific conference will count as one point per hour attended. A maximum of 6 points per full day of the conference will be permitted. Each half day will count as 3 points, Attendance at any CPC / Grand Round of any teaching medical/dental institute shall count as one point, Non-specialists will require a total of 10 CME/CDE points each year, Specialists (those with any registered postgraduate qualification) will require 15 CME/CDE points per year.

Each year to be counted from 1st January to 31st December. No fee will be applicable for either organizing or attending a CME/ CDE event. However, conference registration fee for participant(s) is a separate issue, unrelated to CME/CDE points. CME/ CDE accreditation will be accepted only which is granted by the PM&DC recognized medical / dental teaching institutions.The new scheme of CME/ CDE of PM&DC will be implemented by 1st January 2016. Confirmation of attendance at any CME/CDE activity will be in the following forms:

a. For Medical / Dental Teacher: A consolidated certificate to be issued by the Principal/Dean of the concerned medical/dental college at the end of each year testifying to the number of lectures delivered and the corresponding CME/CDE points earned. Each medical/dental college shall send this list to the PM&DC separately and provide a copy of the same to each teacher. Each claimant’s name will be checked against that list for verification.

b. For Invited Faculty at Medical / Dental Conferences: A certificate issued by the Conference organizer certifying that the claimant did indeed deliver a talk / presentation at the conference. The topic of the talk must be mentioned.

c. For Attendees at Medical / Dental Conferences: A certificate to be issued from the Conference organizer mentioning the topic of the conference and its total duration along with the number of CME/CDE points awarded to the claimant.

d. For Attendees at Institutional CPC / Grand Round: A consolidated certificate issued by the concerned Principal / Dean at the end of each year testifying to the attendance of the claimant at this academic activity. Each institution concerned shall send this list to the PM&DC at the end of each calendar year and shall provide a copy of the same to each attendee if requested. The claim will be checked at the PM&DC against the original list provided. The Committee reviewed and approved the format of CME/CDE certificate which will be circulated to the medical/ dental institutions, to send it to PM&DC after filing all the required data in the form i.e. date/information about the learning activity. The Committee observed that once this concept of the need for CME/CDE points has been fully accepted by the profession, PM&DC can move on to include other measures of a doctor’s performance (the so called 360 degree evaluation) for getting the medical/dental registration revalidated. As UK is very near to implementing the concept of revalidation for doctors practicing in that country but the process had started well over 10 years ago, so the PM&DC shall also be aiming towards this goal keeping our country’s logistics in mind.