The Union Européenne des Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS) was founded in 1958 with the aim of representing the interests of specialist doctors at an international level. The UEMS is a non-governmental voluntary organisation whose members are the national medical organisations that represent medical specialists in the European Union and in associated countries.
In January 2000 the UEMS established the European Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (EACCME®) with the aim of encouraging the highest standards in the development, delivery and harmonisation of continuing medical education (CME) and, later, of continuing professional development (CPD).
The purpose of the EACCME® was to provide accreditation of international CME in Europe and to facilitate the recognition of credits between the various countries in Europe. In order to reach this goal, the UEMS-EACCME® signed agreements of cooperation with countries in Europe, and also outside of Europe.
In order to support this recognition process the UEMS-EACCME® introduced a common “CME currency”: the European CME Credit (ECMEC®).
In 2009, the EACCME® implemented criteria for the accreditation of e-learning materials.
In 2016, the EACCME® implemented EACCME® 2.0 including new forms of CME/CPD activities.
In 2017, the EACCME® launched its new platform for the accreditation of live educational events and e-learning materials and for the recognition of CPD/CME activities.
Note:
Both the EACCME® and the ECMEC® are registered trademarks of the UEMS and cannot be used without the prior authorization of the UEMS.