Mandatory continuing medical education revisited

To detect changes in continuing medical education (CME) activities related to a law mandating CME for relicensure, we surveyed current physician reports and compared the results to previous surveys in 1969 and 1977. The findings were similar and confirm that formal short courses and journals are reported to be of greatest value. The paucity of change in CME habits and behaviors ten years after mandatory participation became law indicates no major changes in education resulting from the regulations. Moreover, there have been no demonstrable improvements in patient care, in frequency of malpractice suits, or in reduced health care costs. Although CME remains an integral part of medicine, mandatory CME laws cannot be recommended and further development of CME remains primarily for the educational, not legal, system.