In-country activities
Tajikistan | Piloting a credit-based Professional Development system
Shakhlo Yarbaeva
Most countries, including some post-Soviet countries, now use the system of accumulated credit-hours of Continuing Medical Education and Continuing Professional Development (CME and CPD) to re-certify their doctors as fit to continue their medical practice. Tajikistan still uses the system created during the Soviet era which consists of a one-month or two-month CME courses every 5 years for “attestation”, or certification, plus an examination, and also periodic short courses for updating doctors on specific topics. The “attestation” system has been criticised for not being effective.
The aim of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation’s Medical Education Reform Project was to create a valid system of CPD for both doctors and nurses as an educational tool to raise the quality of medical care in an effective, reliable and transparent way, and which can be registered on a database and monitored. The Ministry of Health and Social Protection is now piloting a modernized credit-based system of CME and CPD, in the district of Tursunzoda for both Family doctors and Family nurses.
In line with many countries, it is recommended that family medicine specialists collect 250 credit-hours over a period of 5 years, with the credits spread more or less evenly throughout the five years, ie averaging 50 credits /year. The first phase of the CME/CPD system for family medicine specialists is being piloted for 12 months, and after the pilot phase is analyzed, the MoHSP will decide regarding overall introduction of the system throughout the country.
The national implementation is recommended to be stepwise and over a period of 2 – 3 years to give time for training for health workers in the new system, phasing out the ‘attestation’ system, and for regulating the process of accrediting educational events and courses, and registering and updating each specialist’s credit points in the HR Register. CME/CPD under the credit-hours system will be implemented by the Ministry of Health and Social Protection and its educational and scientific institutions. In addition, international organizations will also be invited to be involved in CME/CPD implementation.
Contact:
Shakhlo Yarbaeva , National Coordinator of the Medical Education Reform Project, Tajikistan, Mouazamma Djamalova SDC Tajikistan
