|Articles|July 1, 2012

Continuing medical education a balancing act

Continuing medical education is essential for the provision of good medical care.

Key Points

About one-third of CME is commercially sponsored, which creates the potential for bias. Corporate sponsorship of CME has been particularly criticized by some academic leaders. About 5 years ago, Brennan et al. stated that there is an inherent conflict of interest "between physicians' commitment to patient care and the desire of pharmaceutical companies and their representatives to sell their products."

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