Continuing professional development system for health-care professions, Egypt

Abstract

While the regulatory framework for medical education in Egypt has rapidly evolved, the progress of developing a system for continuing professional development has been slow. In 2018 the government approved legislation establishing a regulatory authority for continuing professional development and added expectations for continuing professional development as a condition of relicensure for physicians in Egypt. The new authority has deployed a provider-accreditation model that sets criteria for educational quality, learning outcomes, independence from industry, and tracking of learners. Only accredited providers can submit continuing professional development accredited activities. Despite regulatory and administrative support there have been several barriers to the implementation of the system including limited availability of funding, lack of suitable training venues and equipment for hands-on training, and resistance from the profession. As of March 2022, 112 continuing professional development providers have achieved accreditation, and deployed 154 accredited continuing professional development activities. The majority of accredited providers were medical associations (64%) and higher education institutions (18%), followed by medical foundations and nongovernmental organizations (13%) and health-care facilities (5%). One electronic learning platform has been accredited. Any entity with commercial interests cannot be accredited as a continuing professional development provider. Funding of continuing professional development activities can be derived from provider budgets, programme registration fees or appropriate sponsors. Funding from industry is limited to unrestricted educational grants. The foundations for an effective continuing professional development system have been established in Egypt with the aim of achieving international recognition.