[Continuing medical education and the professional career]

The great scientific and technical advances in medicine make it necessary that the professional competence of the doctor needs to be brought up to date every now and then by the use of a continuing medical education (CME). The complexity and diversity of the professional subjects and the different areas of specialization give us reasons why the education of the doctor to-day should not be limited to the years of studying for a degree at university but that this education should be prolonged to include successive stages of specialized education and of the CME. The way of doing the latter (CME) is varied by means of different types of activities and it is recommended that it should be of a voluntary nature, through the personal motivation of the doctor, although he should also be spurred on because of different types of "prizes", as, for instance, social recognition, prestige, promotion to higher posts, etc. The organization of the activities of the CME should look to the recognition of the quality of the work by means of the corresponding accreditations according to uniform criteria established by a national central commission which should also establish the credits necessary for obtaining periodically the certificate for the bringing up to date of professional competence. This certificate, which should be gained in periods of 3 or 4 years duration, constitutes the basis, along with other elements (works of investigation, publications, years of tests, etc.) for the professional career of the doctor, the possible structure and development of which is shown in this presentation.