Addressing life long learning needs of neurologist in the emerging world: a case study of an innovative CME program

What leadership roles can transnational medical professional societies play in addressing the life long learning needs of health professionals in emerging world? The World Federation of Neurology (WFN) provides neurological education programme in countries with unmet neurological training needs, in an effort to improve the knowledge and skills of neurologists. The WFN's experience provides a unique study to exemplify how global stakeholders collaborate with each other to deliver CME and to improve the quality of health care services. A multi-stage programme evaluation was undertaken to explore the WFN CME, in an effort to: a) understand how global CME programmes are organized, and b) understand the success factors and the challenges of delivering global CME. The programme evaluation was conducted between June 2005 and March 2006. The preliminary results were shared with the WFN education committee and national coordinators and international experts to check and confirm the findings from the study. The study results reveal that global CME programmes could be designed effectively with minimum costs. These programmes contribute to meeting the continued learning needs of neurologists in resource poor settings. Further, the WFN initiative provides, some initial evidence that these programs can contribute to systems level improvements.