To this day the EU-ACME Programme already includes over 17,000 participants!
The impact of the EU-ACME programme continues to grow, both among national and international societies. Judging from the increase in the number of requests we receive for accreditation of national and international activities, individual medical professionals become more aware of the significance of this initiative.
Back in 2004, the European Association of Urology (EAU) and the European Board of Urology (EBU) joined forces to promote Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) amongst all urologists in Europe by creating a new committee: the EU-ACME (European Urology – Accredited Continuing Medical Education).
In 2021 the EU-ACME programme extended its services towards urology nurses through cooperation with the European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN).
Continuing Professional Development (CPD), Continuing Medical Education (CME) & Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) are fundamental tools in ongoing development. They not only help doctors maintain and upgrade their knowledge in the chosen medical field but also broaden their personal and professional experience after obtaining their postgraduate degrees.
Above all, CPD/CME/CNE enhances the quality of patient care by constantly improving the medical professionals’ skills, broadening their professional outlook, and helping them to keep up with the vast amount of scientific information constantly being generated.
EU-ACME
In order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, the EBU first instituted a credit system to control CME activities of specialists.
The system, applied to CME, was inaugurated in July 1998, at a European School of Urology (ESU) Course in Lisbon, as a pilot study.
The European Board of Urology (EBU) and the European Association of Urology (EAU) have joined forces to promote CME and CPD amongst all urologists in Europe by founding a new committee – the European Urology- Accredited Continuing Medical Education (EU-ACME), defining the EU-ACME programme and by establishing the EU-ACME office.
The first activity accredited within the EU-ACME programme was the Second joint meeting of ESPU and AAP held in Uppsala from June 15th-18th, 2005. This was a great success!
The first accredited activity with organised attendance control through scanning the EU-ACME membership cards was the 7th Ankara Uro-Oncology Course held in Turkey from September 22nd-25th, 2005.
Members of the EU-ACME committee endorsed the Consensus Statement for Independence and Funding of Continuing Medical Education(CME)/Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at the meeting, which took place on June 15th, 2018.
The EU-ACME joined the International Academy for CPD Accreditation – a network of colleagues, dedicated to promoting and enhancing continuing professional development (CPD) accreditation systems throughout the world. It is also devoted to supporting the development, implementation, and evolution of CPD and continuing medical education (CME) accreditation systems.
Cooperation with the European Board of Paediatric Urology (EBPU).
The ESPU-Learn – PUV & Stone Webinar, which took place on 11-12 December 2020, was the first event accredited within the EU-ACME programme by the European Board of Paediatric Urology.
The EU-ACME programme opens for urology nurses through cooperation with the European Association of Urology Nurses (EAUN)
The EAUNwebinar: COVID-19 pandemic and bladder cancer care on 21 January 2021 was the first accredited event within the EU-ACME programme.