EACIC is mainly concerned with medical educational activities, which will be attended, followed or read by healthcare professionals from more than one European country.
Roles and mission
To promote and encourage the development of continuing medical education (CME) in central nervous system (CNS), mainly in psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and neuropsychopharmacology throughout Europe.
To establish policies and high standards for continuing medical education (CME).
To ensure that continuing medical education (CME) plays an important role in the process of helping healthcare professionals to provide the best standards of clinical care to their patients.
Medical specialities concerned
The European Accreditation Committee in CNS (EACIC) focuses on psychiatry, neuropsychiatry and neuropsychopharmacology.
Type of activities
The EACIC regularly provides European CME accreditation for congresses or meetings, sponsored meetings and satellite symposia, standalone meetings and enduring materials (such as internet education, webinars, round-tables discussions, and reading matter etc.).
Scope
Accreditation from the EACIC is mainly granted to those educational activities that have been followed by delegates from different European countries.
Each country has its own CME system. Hence, educational activities that are run within the boundaries of one country, and only attended by delegates from that country, will not fall within the remit of EACIC, unless there is no accreditation system in that country.
Thus, a meeting of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, for example, which would attract delegates from many European countries, could seek accreditation from EACIC. However, a meeting of the British Association of Psychopharmacology, held in the UK, should seek accreditation via the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Functions of the EACIC
The key functions of the European Accreditation Committee in CNS (EACIC) align with their guiding ethos and mission.
To develop guidelines and processes that should be adhered to when providing CME, and to ensure that standards are met by those organisations offering CME in CNS.
To accredit educational activities in CNS and to designate credits to those activities that meet the standards set by the EACIC.
To report to the organisers with an evaluation made by the participants of each presentation and of the general quality (content) of the activity concerned.
To liaise with European and national CME bodies, to discuss issues that will affect CME, and to ensure that the EACIC is working in synergy with other CME systems.
To review and assess developments in CME.
To ensure that the guidelines developed by EACIC in the CNS field will become the accepted standards in European countries.
To provide reports – where possible – on the positive impact of CME activities on patient care and outcomes.
Fees
Applications for CME and designation of credits to CME activities are charged a ‘user fee’ which depends on a number of factors:
- The type of activity, its scale, the number of attendees, the location and its duration.
- The time spent by the EACIC committees, or consultants to the committee, in evaluating the activities to ensure that they meet the required quality standards.
- The monitoring: including the production and the analysis of evaluation forms, the emailing of certificates, the permanent availability of the EACIC secretariat, the creation of the evaluation report etc.
- Etc.
Number of credits granted
Credits designated by the EACIC are based on one CME credit being, approximately, equal to one hour of educational activity.
This is in accordance with the majority of national systems.