Dimapur, January 19 (MExN): The Nagaland Medical Council (NMC) has resolved to institute the Continuing Medical Education (CME) guidelines for all doctors practicing in Nagaland. A part of standard guidelines recommended by the MCI (Medical Council of India), these guidelines were adopted at its annual general body meeting held on January 15.
According to the guidelines, every practicing doctor in the state needs to acquire 30 CME credit points in 5 years in order to have their legal registration renewed, the Council CME Committee Convener stated in a press note received here. It amounts to 6 credit points per year and each credit point is equal to 2 CME hours.
“If a doctor does not have these CME credits at the end of 5 years, he or she will not be eligible for renewal of registration,” it added.
The NMC further stated that the CMEs could be acquired from conferences within or outside the state and valid proof of the same needs to be produced to clock CME credits with the State Medical Council.
Continuing medical education is a must for doctors so that they are well equipped with the latest information and trends in medical knowledge, it maintained adding that such steps could do “justice to the trust that is placed on them by patients who come to them. “
It also informed that due processes are being designed in order to ensure that all doctors are given a fair chance to acquire these credits taking into consideration the difficulty of terrain and accessibility in Nagaland for doctors in far flung remote districts.
“The Nagaland Medical Council will make all efforts to ensure that this process is inclusive and no doctor is left out from benefiting from it” it noted.
A leniency period of three months is being provided to doctors and their respective associations, it added, to develop the mechanisms to conduct CMEs according to the guidelines and plan for their yearly CME points.
The NMC also expressed hope that with the introduction of these guidelines and regulations, doctors in Nagaland will advance professionally and healthcare for the people in general will improve significantly.
The guidelines are being e-mailed to all the doctors who have registered with the State Medical Council, the NMC also informed adding that copies of these guidelines are also available and clarifications/ suggestions can be made with the office of the Registrar of the Council at the Paramedical Training Institute, Kohima It will also be made available the official council’s website once its construction is done.
