Quality issues in continuing medical education in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The issue of continuing medical education (CME) in Saudi Arabia is no longer quantity but rather quality. Quality Management (QM) of the current huge number of CME activities is essential to ensure its merits and outcomes. Sound evaluation is the cornerstone of any QM process to CME. However, issues related to models of evaluation, CME stakeholders, principles of adult learning and assessment should be considered before deciding on the type of evaluation appropriate for QM of CME. Our aim is to draw attention to the importance of developing a QM process for CME that is valid, reliable, feasible and acceptable to different CME stakeholders. The huge volume of CME programs needs QM to ensure its utility for healthcare providers and consumers. Understanding relevant evaluation models and the complexity of evaluating CME is a necessary step towards appropriate action.