Continuing medical education as a strategy for improving general practice--experiences from Vellore

One of the neglected areas in medical education is undoubtedly organized continuing medical education (CME) for the general practitioners. A programme on CME for general practitioners working under difficult and varied conditions is reported. The aim of the programme was to improve knowledge, skills and attitude of the practitioners, and its measurable effects are improvement of knowledge and skills. Attitude changes and final effect on patient care are difficult to evaluate and methods need be developed for this.