Continuing medical education: Global health, global learning

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Abstract
CME—continuing medical education—has become an international discipline. Defined as any and all ways by which doctors learn after the formal completion of their training,1 CME is being shaped by several forces. Foremost among these are the globalisation of health2; cross disciplinary movements such as evidence based medicine; common trends in medical education and the assessment of professional competence; and the impact on health care and professional education of the identification of the determinants of health.3 4 Add to these electronic mail and the internet allowing instant global communication and virtually unlimited access to medical information and it is not hard to see why CME has become an international concern.5 This paper reviews the main published work on CME, identifies major themes in its development, and points to ways that may help standardise and support the provision of CME internationally.