Continuing Medical Education (CME) in time of crisis: How medical societies face challenges and adapt to provide unbiased CME

ABSTRACT

Healthcare professionals need to maintain their knowledge and skills to deliver the best possible care to patients. Medical societies play an important role as providers of continuing medical education (CME) and have actively continued this role during the COVID-19 pandemic adapting the delivery of education to virtual meetings and courses. The Biomedical Alliance in Europe CME Experts Committee conducted two surveys to collect information on the delivery of CME, generally, and during the COVID-19 pandemic from the member medical societies. In this article, we will present the most relevant data collected and share some reflections based on this analysis.

KEYWORDS:

• CME
• unbiased CME
• medical societies
• BioMed alliance
• COVID -19
• BioMed Alliance

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Working Group responsible for the BioMed Alliance’s surveys

Céline Carrera (ESC), Anja Sander (EAN), Marieke Meijer (BioMed Alliance), Carine Pannetier (ERS), Eleanor Kennedy (EASD), Fabiola de Andrade (EHA), Line Joubert (ESC), Mounia Heddad Masson (EASL), Michel Ballieu (BioMed Alliance); Anne-Claire Cazottes (BioMed Alliance).

BioMed Alliance CME Experts Permanent Committee member societies supporting the article:

European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS), European Academy of Neurology (EAN), European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS), European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL), European Association of Urology (EAU), European Brain Council (EBC), European Cancer Organisation, European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT), European Haematology Association (EHA), European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), European Patient Forum (EPF), European Renal Association (ERA), European Respiratory Society (ERS), European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC), European Society of Cardiology (ESC), European Society of Endocrinology (ESE), European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), European Society for Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition (ESPGHAN), European Society of Radiology (ESR), European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR), Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS), United European Gastroenterology (UEG).