Continuing medical education and sponsorship by the healthcare industry – new opportunities and challenges

Continuing medical education is a critical activity necessary to ensure the maintenance or development of the skills of physicians and allied healthcare professionals. The goal of continuing education is to ensure the provision of the most up-to-date, highest quality clinical care and the best possible outcomes for the patients we treat every day and every night. Professional medical societies such as the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) support these obligations. In Europe, the costs of continuing medical education are insufficiently supported from governments and employers and have depended to a degree on financial support from industry1.

Recent years ...