CME conference listings are websites that list medical conferences and courses, together with the continuing medical education (CME) credits that each one gives. Continuing medical education means the courses and conferences through which doctors keep learning after they qualify. In many countries, a doctor must earn a set number of CME credits to keep a licence to practise. A listing helps a doctor find the events that count.
The rules differ by country, and in India by state. Several Indian state medical councils require doctors to earn credit points over a period of years, to renew their registration. In the United States, most states require a set number of CME hours every year or two. For each conference, the organiser applies to the right body for accreditation. Accreditation is an official approval, and it sets how many credits the conference gives.
The listing collects events from organisers: medical associations, hospitals and universities. For each event, it records the speciality, the place and dates, whether it is online or in person, the fee, and the accredited credits. A doctor can filter by all of these. Online courses appear too, much as they do on an online course marketplace, but only accredited ones earn credits.
Take, for example, an anaesthetist in Nagpur. Her registration with the Maharashtra Medical Council is due for renewal next year, and she still needs 8 credit points. She filters the listing for anaesthesia events in India between October and December. It shows 14 events. She picks a two-day conference in Bhubaneswar that is accredited for 4 credit points. She also picks a one-day online course on airway management, accredited for 2. Two more points will come from an event in the new year.
The listing sends her to each organiser's registration page. The organiser runs registration on an event management platform, which also records her attendance. After each event, she downloads her certificate. Some listings also keep a record for each doctor: the credits earned so far and the date of the next renewal. They remind the doctor as the date gets closer.
A listing can be one part of a doctor community platform, or a website of its own. Drug companies sponsor many conferences, so listings are also one way in which companies reach doctors. In India, the Uniform Code for Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP), which governs how drug companies promote medicines in pharma commercial operations, limits what a company may pay for a doctor's conference travel. A CME listing is different from an event platform. The event platform runs one organiser's event. The listing collects thousands of events from many organisers, so that doctors can compare them.