CME & Specialty Committee

About

The CME and Specialty Committee is responsible for the issues concerning Continuing Medical Education and was created to link the pertinent structures to organise a fruitful promotion of the specialty throughout Europe. Additionally, the Committee deals with other relevant problems of the specialty, including recognition of the specialty, free circulation of specialists within Europe, relationship of allergology and clinical immunology with other specialties, contacts with regulatory bodies, UEMS etc.

About the CME system

The system for Continuing Medical Education (CME) is now provided by the EACCME and aims to guarantee a high level of theoretical and clinical competence throughout the entire working life of medical specialists that qualify for CME certification.

CME provides educational activities allow doctors to:

• maintain, develop and increase medical knowledge and skills
• improve their professional performance
• ensure better and safer diagnosis and treatment, in order to improve the quality of life of the patient

At present there is no standardised system across Europe for accrediting CME activities and providing credits. Some European countries have established CME systems with a legal obligation to collect a certain number of credits in order to practice medicine, while in other countries no such system exists and CME is considered as an ethical and moral responsibility of each individual practitioner.

In Europe, the Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS) has established the European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME), aimed at facilitating the development of a common European CME system. This committee acts as an umbrella structure for the national CME authorities and guarantees the reciprocity of awarded CME credits in different European countries as well as with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The EAACI also comprises a CME Accreditation Council that commenced operations in 2001. It is responsible for promoting continued medical education through the Academy and setting the standards for CME in Allergology.

Recomended reads

• “The roadmap for allergology in Europe: The subspecialty of allergology as “stop-over” on the way to a full specialty. An EAACI position statement”
• “The roadmap for Allergology specialty and allergy care in Europe and adjacent countires. An EAACI position paper”

Introduction to Continuing Medical Education (CME)

A system for Continuing Medical Education (CME) is aimed to assure a high level of theoretic and clinical competence throughout the working life of medical specialists. CME provides educational activities, which allow doctors to maintain, develop and increase medical knowledge and skills and to improve their professional performance to ensure better and safer diagnosis and treatment for the patient. At present there is no standardised system across Europe for accrediting CME activities and providing credits. Some European countries have established CME systems with a legal obligation to collect a certain number of credits in order to practice medicine, while in other countries no such system exists and CME is considered as an ethical and moral responsibility of each individual practitioner.

In Europe, the Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS) has established the European Accreditation Council for CME (EACCME), aimed at facilitating the development of a common European CME system. This committee acts as an umbrella structure for the national CME authorities and guarantees the reciprocity of awarded CME credits in different European countries as well as with the American Medical Association (AMA) and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Application procedure

The accreditation of all CME programmes is performed online through the portal of EACCME.

After a preliminary review by EACCME, all applications are transferred to the EBAACI secretariat for further administrative processing and evaluation of the scientific programme by an independent board of European experts, composed of six members, three from EAACI and three from the UEMS Allergology Section and Board, nominated for four years. EBAACI then recommends the appropriate number of credits to EACCME which will finalise the accreditation process and inform the CME provider of the number of CME credits for their event and provide the required information to issue certificates.

The timescale for the application implies that the completed application form, with all relevant attachments and full payment for the application, is received no less than twelve weeks from the planned start date of the event, and preferably more than 16 weeks.

To start the application process and view a checklist of required documentation, please click here.

Contact

For more information about the CME, please contact:

EAACI Headquarters
Hagenholzstrasse 111
3rd Floor
8050 Zurich
Switzerland
Telephone: +41 44 205 55 33
E-mail: education@eaaci.org