The EU-ACME Office acts as a central "institution" where all information forwarded by the CME organisers/providers and (inter)national urological association is kept.

The EU-ACME programme is the initiative resulting from a close collaboration between the European Board of Urology (EBU) and the European Association of Urology (EAU). Its primary goal is the implementation, promotion and organisation of Continuing Medical Education (CME) and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) among European urologists. Individual urologists are becoming more aware of the significance of this initiative. The impact of this programme continues to grow, judging from the increasing number of registered accredited CME activities.

As a service institution, the EU-ACME office offers:

• Assistance in obtaining the European accreditation for the CME;
• Registration of accredited (inter)national CME activities;
• Access to the online CME/CPD credit management system;
• Assistance in providing the attendance control (scanners);
• Registration of credit points for members of the urological society participating in the EU-ACME programme;
• The EU-ACME membership card for urologist participating in the programme

European accreditation means the decision by the European Board of Urology Accreditation Committee that the organiser of the CME event has fulfilled the EBU requirements for a CME programme. If so, a number of credit points is allocated to a programme in compliance with the EBU/UEMS regulation - 1 hour equal 1 credit point with a maximum of 6 credit points per day and 18 credit points for the whole event.

By awarding the European accreditation, the EBU certifies that the activity:

• Meets the requirements for continued medical education;
• Clearly states educational and scientific objectives;
• Fulfils a recognised professional need in the field, as defined in the statement of objectives;
• Presents subject matter that attains the stated objectives;
• Makes use of current teaching and learning techniques;
• Indicates selection criteria for presenters;
• Awards certificates of attendance and course completion

The key to receiving credit points is accreditation of the CME activity. Accreditation needs to be formalised prior to the educational activity. The steps to getting an activity accredited are:

• Organisers confirm the EU-ACME office about the activity which is to be accredited by sending in the programme and requesting accreditation;
• The EU-ACME office registers the event in their database and submits the request to the EBU Accreditation Committee;
• The EU-ACME office confirms the Committee's decision and issues the Accreditation certificate

Organisers are expected to communicate clearly to participants that the event is accredited (web site, programme book, certificate of attendance) and how attendance is verified. Participants ought to be told where to show their EU-ACME membership cards in order to register for credits.

See also: www.eu-acme.org