Continuing Medical Education: Closing The Gap Between Medical Research And Practice

Continuing medical education (CME) has long been recognized as the key to updating and maintaining the knowledge and skill of health professionals.CME activities are well advocated, accepted and regulated in the developed world with sanctions for non-participation. In developing countries, including West Africa subregion, CME activities are less effective and no practical enforcement to compel individual’s participation. This review examined the importance, scope and regulation of CME activities and identified the barriers to effective CME in developing countries to include lack of motivation, time, finance and lack of access to CME facilities occasioned by underdevelopment in information and communication technology (ICT) and know-how. It is concluded with practical suggestions that; health professionals should embrace CME as a moral and ethical obligation; health organizations and institutions should provide incentives, adequate funding and protected time for CME activities; professional and regulatory bodies should enforce participation and impose sanctions if need be, as the way forward.