[Quality and structure of continuing medical education in internal medicine using the example of the Chamber of Physicians of the northern Rhine area].

A high quality of continuing medical education (CME) ensures an efficient and good medical care of the population. Despite the economical and medical significance, systematic studies of the available literature showed that there is no evaluation of CME in Germany regarding it's quality and structure. This pilot study by the chamber of physicians of the Northern Rhine area is supposed to be a first approach to demonstrate different characteristics of quality of CME. The results show that the guidelines by the chamber of physicians of Germany for the realization of CME can hardly be put in action: lessons with small groups is not realized, the student's experiences are not included in the CME and there is no feed-back between teachers and students. Additionally, the request by the chamber of physicians of Germany regarding CME events free of industrial interests is not met. Two thirds of so-called independent CME events by the academy for CME of the chamber of physicians of the Northern Rhine area has been realized with participation of the pharmaceutical industry. 57% of the participants stated that they saw no or hardly any value of the CME events. 16% gained some important knowledge, 22% gained knowledge of high professional relevance, 16% were motivated for intensified studies, and 27% were motivated for cooperation. Since only a CME of high quality can ensure an optimal care of the population, the development of an objective systematic evaluation followed by modification of the CME events is highly needed for the improvement of the German health care system.