In 2015, WFME published revised WFME Global Standards for Quality Improvement: Continuing Professional Development of Medical Doctors. These are a global medical education expert consensus on the minimum requirements and standards for quality improvement at this stage. Altogether there are 76 basic standards, 62 quality development standards and 80 annotations. These standards are currently being revised to be principles-based rather than prescriptive. The new version should be available in late 2024.
Continuing professional development (CPD) includes all activities that doctors who have completed their training and are in independent practice undertake, formally and informally, in order to maintain, update, develop and enhance their knowledge, skills, and behaviours in response to the needs of their patients. Independence also is implied, CPD activities being characterised by self-directed learning, only rarely involving supervised training for any extended period of time. Engaging in CPD is a professional obligation but also a prerequisite for enhancing the quality of health care.
WFME Standards for CPD 2015:
To request a copy of the 2003 Global Standards, email admin@wfme.org
