The RCOG does not accredit meetings and courses for CME/CPD organised by external organisations. This places the responsibility for making decisions regarding the educational value of meetings with the participant. Delegates are expected to judge for themselves the educational value of a meeting/course. In order to make a successful claim, our Fellows and Members are required to retain a certificate of attendance, which providers of CPD should supply. We would ask that the certificate of attendance is provided in electronic form as RCOG Fellows and Members use an electronic means for keeping evidence of their CPD activities.
In addition we recommend that they participate in a written examination.
As an education provider, we suggest that you:
- Provide detailed, accurate information to the delegates:
The publicity material which contains the full programme should accurately provide:
o a clear description of those for whom the event is primarily intended and also those others who may find it useful,
o the content and level of the subject matter,
o the educational aims of the course,
o the format (lectures, workshops, seminars, etc.),
o personnel involved (course leaders, speakers, etc.)
Details should be included of the material (reports, speakers' contributions, etc.) to be supplied to supplement the event and to enable the participants to undertake further studies.
- Evaluate the event:
- There should be a written event evaluation. Evaluations should invite participants to rate various components of the event eg. content of syllabus, quality of speakers, overall educational value.
- Provide a summary of the evaluation:
Prospective delegates may ask to see the results of the evaluation which should be made available.
Finally, if your meeting is potentially of interest to other specialties, note that you must apply to an appropriate Royal College in order to seek CME/CPD approval for other specialties.