What Does CME Accreditation Stand for?

Abstract

Independence has been top of the agenda of accrediting bodies worldwide for many years and has just recently been aligned in a consensus document [1] adopted by major accrediting bodies. Furthermore, independence from any undue third-party influence has also been a top criterion to be assessed in the accreditation process. As a result, currently accrediting bodies demand that faculty should be carefully selected, in particular with regard to competing interests, and representatives of commercial interests can at no point take a role in continuing medical education(CME). Nevertheless, the Marburger Bund (MB) position paper on the independence of CME [2] reminds us that aiming at the independence of CME needs to take a holistic view of all the factors which have an impact on items relevant to CME and its outcome. Though this position paper relates to a German background, it addresses some issues of general importance for medical education in general, and CME accreditation in particular: