EDITORIAL

Continuing Medical Education

This issue marks the start of the ninth year of Educación Médica Internacional, and does so by introducing a novelty which we hope readers will find useful. This first issue of 2006 includes a section containing a program for Accredited Continuing Education in the specific field of medical education, the first of its kind in Spanish.

Educación Médica Internacional thus joins the list of leading international journals that focus on professional continuing medical education and accreditation. Continuing Professional Development (CPD) is a key issue today. Though in the health sciences as a whole, professionals can choose from a wide range of continuing education activities, few programs related to aspects of teaching are on offer, and those that are available are excessively general.

For the design of the program the editorial board of Educación Médica Internacional has enlisted the help of SEDEM, the Spanish Society for Medical Education, whose members are well aware of the need for specific training for teachers. Throughout 2006, the journal will publish four articles on aspects of medical education. Readers will be encouraged first to study the articles in detail and then to be tested on their understanding of the issues discussed. Those who pass this test will be awarded the corresponding credits by Spain's National Continuing Education System.

The first article in the series deals with The cognitive process and professional learning, to be followed in later issues by themes such as the continuum of medical education, new technologies and distance continuing education, and course accreditation. The SEDEM is sure that these themes will be of interest to professionals in the health sciences who are involved in teaching at all levels. We hope that this group of professionals will find the project attractive and thought-provoking, and above all relevant to their own continuing professional development.

Jorge Palés Argullós 
President, SEDEM