CME for neurosurgeons in the Netherlands: the "quality" conferences

In 1993 the Netherlands Society for Neurosurgery started a yearly event, a "Quality Conference", specifically devoted to continuous medical education (CME). These conferences differ from "normal" scientific meetings, in the choice for specific topics, in the preparation with inquiries among all the Dutch neurosurgical centres, and in the way the results of these inquiries are discussed, preceded by lectures concerning the chosen topic by guest faculty and Dutch neurosurgeons. Each year's principal guest delivers the "Beks Lecture", named after the former professor in Neurosurgery in Groningen, Jan Beks. On several occasions, the foreign guests suggested to present this format for a larger neurosurgical forum. Therefore, it was decided to describe the various aspects of this format for CME in the Netherlands in a paper for Acta Neurochirugica. Examples of topics are given, a summary of two recent inquiries are presented and discussed, and the way of organizing such a conference including finance and the obligatory character are described.