Accreditation in India: Pathways and Mechanisms

ABSTRACTContinuing medical education (CME) is a valuable mechanism to update physicians’ knowledge with ever-increasing plethora of contemporary advances within medical fraternity. Over time, scope of CME has seen change from simple clinical updates to comprehensive continuing professional development (CPD), which is accomplished with help of accredited CME programmes. The Medical Council of India, in 2011, made a mandatory resolution for doctors to attend minimum of 30 hours of CME/5 years to ensure recertification. Authorised accreditation councils and licensing authorities award CME credits for maintenance of physicians’ licensures. To date, in India, only 9 of 26 State Medical Councils have made re-registration mandatory. Although CME events benefit healthcare professionals by improving their proficiency and awareness, costs even to attend such interventions may be prohibitive. Despite financial help being received through grants and sponsorships, ethics of industry-sponsored CME remains a matter of d...