Doctors and other health care practitioners go through rigorous schooling in order to graduate with medical credentials. However, their education does not stop just because they receive their license. Licensed doctors and medical practitioners must continue their educational ventures through continuing medical education.
Function
Continuing medical education is designed to ensure that medical professionals are always skilled, knowledgeable and competent in their fields. Continuing medical education (CME) offers refresher courses that range over a wide spectrum of topics, including medical theories and ethics, as well as scientific discoveries.
Requirements
According to the Texas Medical Board, doctors are required to complete 24 hours of CME every year. Different state licensing boards set their expectations for CME and health care organizations, whether private or publicly funded, must adopt the state's rules for CME into their own corporate policies.
Documentation
Doctors and health care professionals must furnish their employers with documentation of their CME courses, such as a course certificate of completion, to be filed in their personnel record. CME documentation is also beneficial for a doctor's credentialing file.
Consequences
Since CME policies are set by state licensing laws, doctors who do not comply with CME standards risk losing their license to practice medicine in that state. Health care companies reserve the right to enforce CME policies and put doctors on probation for noncompliance. Doctors who refuse CME courses may also be fired from an organization.
Tags: health care, medical education, Continuing medical education, state licensing, their license
