EBAC credit system

What is a CME Credit/ EBAC Recommends/ Necessity for CME

What is a CME Credit?

A CME credit is a unit of time that a physician spends attending a CME activity.

By participating in a CME activity accredited for a defined number of CME credits, a physician can earn the same, or a lower number of CME credits, depending on the time spent in the CME activity.

These credits can be reported to a local or national CME authority.

	Events:	For EBAC accredited events 1 CME credit is equal to 60 minutes of educational activity, according to EACCME recommendations. The usual number of CME credits awarded by EBAC for a CME event is 3 credits for a half day of educational activity, or 6 CME credits for a full day. For example, if a CME event takes place over a two day period, it can be awarded up to 12 credits. A participant who attends one day only would earn 6 of the 12 CME credits available.
	Distance Learning:	The same ground rule applies and accordingly, one hour of educational activity will be awarded 1 CME credit (60 minutes = 1 CME credit). Internet modules - CD ROM : As educational Internet modules and CD ROMs are often divided into shorter sessions, it will be possible to award 0,5 CME credit for 30 minutes of educational activity. CME Articles : EBAC recommends articles of about 3 500 words (excluding references) and six MCQ would be equivalent to 1 hour (60 minutes) of educational activity (1 CME credit) - for more information please refer to "EBAC accreditation policy for CME articles".

EBAC Recommends

EBAC recognizes two categories of CME credits:

EBAC recommends that cardiologists earn a minimum of 250 CME credits over a period of 5 years, to be divided as follows:

Recognition of CME credits should be the task of the national CME authority.

Over a one-year period not more than 100 credit hours should be recognized; any CME credits earned above the 100 credit limit exceeding 100 credits a year cannot be carried over to the following year.

EBAC recommends 2 hours of professional reading per week.

Necessity for CME

Keeping up-to date with the latest achievements in diagnosis and treatment of one's specialty is a physician's professional obligation. In certain countries it became a legal obligation today. The graph below shows the evolution of a physician's competence.