Description

Welcome to this first issue of the CME Bulletin in Palliative Medicine. Our objective is to provide contemporary reviews of a range of topics from within the speciality and related disciplines. It is aimed at those specialising in Palliative Medicine and whilst acknowledging the importance of a multi-professional approach to patient care, this bulletin is directed towards those issues which are mostly within the medical domain. We must also consider that Palliative Medicine is not just the province of those specialising in its discipline but is also practised by specialists in many other fields and we hope to draw on their expertise for articles in future issues.

Over the past ten years and since first recognition as a speciality by the Royal College of Physicians we have seen tremendous growth. The establishment of training programmes and professorial chairs in centres of learning, coupled to national and local initiatives to enhance the provision of palliative care, is surely leading to a greater acceptance and understanding of our speciality. However there is much progress which still needs to be made before we can truly claim equal status with other (traditional) medical specialities and not least of this is in the arena of research. One of our intentions, therefore, is to stimulate thoughts and ideas which might translate into worthwhile research topics for the future and to highlight areas where there are still gaps in our knowledge base. The move towards so called evidence based practice underlines the need to question our actions at a fundamental level and we hope this Bulletin will provide not only some of the questions but also where to look for some of the answers. Lively and controversial discussion will be encouraged and we will welcome feed-back and correspondence for future issues.

This is also the era of CME. In the past, keeping up to date has been seen by many as an essential part of the individual obligation of a physician. When first introduced there was much debate as to whether legislated requirements for post-graduate education demeaned the standing of the physician as a professional. There remain fears that centralised recording of doctors attendance for CME may form the basis for re-accreditation. On the other hand, intense service demands make it difficult for some to take adequate time for study and so the need to satisfy certain minimum requirements is one way to ensure that the professional status of doctors within the emerging health service is maintained. Life for the physician in the 21st Century will be very different to the classical model that most of us grew up with. A structure which supports doctors in their continued quest for education and professional refreshment must certainly be encouraged.

So how does this Bulletin work? Among these pages you will find a short MCQ. Answer the questions, return the answer sheet and it will be marked (anonymously) by computer and sent back to you along with allocation of 3 CME credits provided the correct response threshold, as stipulated by the Royal College of Physicians, is attained. The correct answers will be published in the next issue. Unfortunately you cant claim the points just by reading the Bulletin and not returning the MCQ. Whether you decide to register for the points or not we hope you will enjoy this Bulletin.