Making reaccreditation meaningful.

Reaccreditation is a well-accepted fact for many doctors outside the United Kingdom and is likely to become a reality for British general practitioners. The author'sabbatical year in the United States of America studying reaccreditation and its relationship to continuing medical education has enabled a critical analysis of recent proposals in the UK to be carried out. The aim of reaccreditation must be understood by the profession and must be clearly stated. To be credible it will have to be mandatory and linked to continuing medical education. Current types of continuing medical education must be developed so that they are meaningful, influence doctors' behaviour and include research, audit, training, reading and medical writing. The profession must confront the need to penalize the small number of doctors who have an unacceptable standard of practice. The potential benefits of an appropriate form of reaccreditation may include improved quality of care and patient outcome, enhanced job satisfaction and reduced rates of burnout.