Abstract

The Continuing Medical Education (CME) is meant to maintain, broaden and innovate the knowledge and skills, gained during the medical studies and specialization. It is already applied (USA) or it is now organized in many European countries. All kinds of physicians and medical specialists should participate in it. In Bulgaria the CME is based on 2 legal acts: Ordinance 31 for the postgraduate medical education lastly innovated in 2003, and its addition – The Official Credit System for evaluation of CME forms, issued in June, 2004. According to them the Bulgarian Medical Association (BMA) has the responsibility to regulate, organize, lead and control the process. BMA guarantees for the legal, open, clear and based on principles administration of the whole system. There are different methods (forms) of CME, classified in 7 categories (from A to G) - individual education, congresses, conferences, courses, symposia, distant education, medical literature and magazines, etc. Every physician has to gather 150 credit points for the period of 3 years, participating in different forms of CME. It is not compulsory but it is a logic requirement for the good medical treatment. The CME should result in better quality and higher efficiency of healthcare. It will be also one of the factors in the free market of medical specialists and services

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Address for correspondence: M. Diakova; Chair of Preventive medicine; Public Health Faculty, MU Sofia, 8 Bjalo mere Str., Sofia 1527, Bulgaria.