Singapore Medical Council

Category Caps for CME Points

The maximum number of CME points that doctors can claim for participation in SMC-accredited CME activities are as follows:

Category	Description	Maximum Point (2-Year PC)	Maximum Point (1-Year PC)
1A	Pre-Approved Established Programmes	50	25
1B	Local Events (e.g. scientific meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.)
1C	Overseas Events (e.g. scientific meetings, conferences, workshops, etc.)
2	Publication / Editorial Work / Presentation of Original Paper or Poster	40	20
3A	Self-study (e.g. reading of refereed journals listed in PubMed or MOH Clinical Practice Guidelines)	10	5
3B	Accredited distance-learning programmes with verifiable self-assessment (e.g. Medscape)	36	18
All	CME activities related to aesthetic practice	5 points per year This cap does not apply to dermatologists and plastic surgeons.

Category 1A (Pre-approved Established Programmes)

Activity Category	Criteria	Credit Pts Awarded	Submitted By
Cat 1A : Pre-approved Established Programmes - Hospital-Wide Grand Ward Rounds - Teaching / Tutorial Session - Structured Training Programmes conducted by DGMS & CFPS (e.g GDFM, MMed FM)	1 to < 2 hours Lecturer (For normal Cat 1A activities only) Lecturer (For DGMS / CFPS postgraduate courses only)	1 1 per session (regardless of duration) 2 per session (regardless of duration)	CME Provider

Category 1A activities are pre-approved established CME programmes held in the restructured hospitals / specialty centres / institutions, for example: Hospital-Wide Grand Ward Rounds, Teaching Rounds, Journal Clubs, X-Ray Sessions, Mortality and Morbidity Rounds, Hospital Case Conferences; Division of Graduate Medical Studies (DGMS) courses and teaching sessions in Family Medicine (FM) Approved Training Centres (ATCs).

With effect from 1 Jan 2006, all work / ward rounds held primarily for service or as part of routine clinical service work would not be accredited. Only rounds that are held in seminar rooms and hospital-wide rounds, e.g. hospital conferences would be accredited. In addition, these activities must be a teaching round and pre-dominantly educational with little or no service component involved. It must also be structured and pre-planned and the duration must be at least an hour.

FM Accreditation
The SMC and College of Family Physicians Singapore (CFPS) recognise only 4 FM ATCs to conduct FM core CME programmes. Any organisation that wishes to provide Cat 1A core FM activities should first apply to SMC to become an accredited ATC. Currently, the 4 ATCs are:
    a) College of Family Physicians, Singapore;
    b) SingHealth Polyclinics;
    c) NHG Polyclinics, and
    d) Dept of Family Medicine Continuing Care (FMCC) at Singapore
        General Hospital.

Accreditation Applications / Attendance Records
CME Providers of Cat 1A activities need to apply to SMC for in-principle accreditation in November / December of the preceding year. The accreditation status is renewable yearly. Applications for accreditation must be submitted at least 4 weeks before the first event date to allow sufficient to process the application and for the approved events to be posted on the SMC's CME Event Calendar. CME Providers are required to record doctors' attendance at the beginning of every session and submit these attendance records online (within 20 days after the event ) on behalf of doctors. Hardcopies of attendance records are not required to be submitted to SMC unless requested. However, CME providers are advised to keep these hardcopies for a minimum period of 2 years for audit purposes.

Category 1B (Local Events)

Activity Category	Criteria	Credit Pts Awarded	Submitted By
Cat 1B : Local Events such as : - Scientific Meeting - Conference - Seminar - Lecture - Workshop	1 to < 2 hours >2 to 4 hours 1 day 1 1/2 days 2 days 2 1/2 days 3 days or more Speaker	1 2 4 6 8 10 12 2 per session (regardless of duration)	CME Provider

Activities under Cat 1B include Annual Scientific Meetings, Conferences and Seminars held in Singapore.

Accreditation Applications / Attendance Records
CME Providers of Cat 1B event need to apply for accreditation at least 4 weeks before the event date to allow sufficient to process the application and for approved events to be posted on the SMC's CME Event Calendar. CME Providers are required to record doctors' attendance for each section, upload the attendance records online and fax the hardcopies to the SMC Secretariat within 20 days after the event. CME providers are advised to keep the attendance records for a minimum period of 2 years for audit purposes.

Note: Applications for accreditation received after the event date will be rejected. CME Providers who repeatedly fail to either apply for accreditation before the event date or capture/ submit the attendance records will be blacklisted.

Pharmaceutical / Commercial Companies
All events organised solely by pharmaceutical / commercial companies will not be accredited unless the activities are co-organised with CME providers such as restructured hospitals/ institutions, private hospitals and professional bodies such as the Academy of Medicine Singapore, College of Family Physicians Singapore and Singapore Medical Association. Accreditation applications and attendance records can only be submitted electronically by the medical co-organiser (and not the pharmaceutical / commercial companies).

Category 1C (Overseas Events)

Activity Category	Criteria	Credit Pts Awarded	Submitted By
Cat 1C : Overseas Events such as : - Scientific Meeting - Conference - Seminar - Lecture - Workshop - Postgraduate Degree coures	1 to < 2 hours 2 to 4 hours 1 day 1 1/2 days 2 days 2 1/2 days 3 days or more Recognised Postgraduate Degree/ Diploma course Speaker	1 2 4 6 8 10 12 Max claim = 50 CME pts (depends on length of degree / diploma course) 2 per session (regardless of duration)	Medical Practitioner

Category 1C activities are overseas scientific meetings, conferences, seminars, lectures and workshops.

Normal Overseas Events
A doctor should submit separate claims if he was both a speaker and a participant at these events. Documentary proof in support of all claims should be retained and submitted to the SMC when requested.

To claim points for participation in regular overseas department teaching sessions, doctors who are working / studying overseas are required to submit a letter from their Head of Department to vertify their attendance.

Note: The Council has decided that with effect from 1 May 2004, doctors' Cat 1C claims for attending overseas events organised solely by pharmaceutical companies will be rejected.

Postgraduate Degrees / Diplomas
Doctors can also claim CME points for attending overseas postgraduate degree / diploma courses which are recognised by SMC. A copy of the course details and the postgraduate certificate must be submitted to SMC to facilitate the processing and award of CME points. 1 CME point will be awarded per course hour, subject to a cap of 50 points.

Category 2 (Publication / Editorial Work, Poster & Paper Presentation)

Activity Category	Criteria	Credit Pts Awarded	Submitted By
Cat 2 : Publication / Editorial Work / Presentation of Original Paper or Poster (Category 2 = Max 40 pts over 2 years)	Authorship of original paper in Refereed Journals / MOH Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) / Medical Textbook - Main Author - Subsidary Author Authorship of modules for Online Education or Distance-Learning Programmes (DLP) Editorial Work / Reviewer for Refereed Journals and Medical Textbooks - Chief Editor - Subsidary Editor - Reviewer Presentation of Original Paper / Poster (regardless of duration)	5 per paper / MOH CPG / textbook chapter 2 per paper / MOH CPG / textbook chapter 2 per module 5per journal / textbook 2 per journal / textbook 2 per journal / textbook 2 per paper / poster	Medical Practitioner

Doctors can claim CME points for being the main / subsidiary author, chief / subsidiary editor, reviewer or presenter for the above CME activities. Non-core CME points will be awarded for MOH's CPGs.

Please note that claims for the authorship / reviewing of articles in newsletters, magazines and non-refereed journals / publications will be rejected. Examples of such publications are:
    a) Organon's Magazine on Women's Health;
    b) Medical Digest;
    c) Medical Grapevine;
    d) SMA News, etc.

Category 3A (Self-Study)

Activity Category	Criteria	Credit Pts Awarded	Submitted By
Cat 3A : Self Study (Category 3A = Max 10 pts over 2 years)	- Reading of papers from Refereed Journals / MOH Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) / Medscape - Self-study from audio-visual tapes - Online Education Programmes without self-assessment or non- verifiable self-assessment	1 per paper / MOH CPG / tape / module	Medical Practitioner

CME points will be awarded to doctors who submit claims for reading papers from Refereed Journals which are recommended by the Council or those listed in PubMed. Doctors can also submit CME claims for reading MOH's CPGs.

All claims for reading articles from other publications, e.g. newsletters, magazines and non-refereed journals etc, will be rejected. Examples are:
    a) Organon's Magazine on Women's Health;
    b) Medical Digest;
    c) Medical Grapevine;
    d) Casebook (by Medical Protection Society);
    e) Medical Tribune and
    f) Epidemiological News Bulletin, etc.

Category 3B (Distance Learning - Verifiable Self Assessment)

Activity Catergory

Criteria

Credit Pts Awarded

Submitted By

Cat 3B :
Distance Learning Programmes (DLP)

- Local DLPs (AM, CFPS, SMA)

- Medscape
learning courses
(with verifiable
assessment)

- Overseas DLPs
accredited by
ACCME

- Others
(Subject to
approval)

(Category 3B = Max 36 pts over 2 years)

(Categories 3A + 3B = Max 46 pts over 2 years)

Distance learning through interactive structured approved CME programmes

1 per module or as recommended by AM / CFPS/ SMA and Council

AM / CFPS / SMA / Specialists

Category 3B activities are distance-learning programmes with verifiable self-assessment. A copy of the assessment scores / results must be submitted to the Secretariat for processing.

Doctors can participate in local DLPs conducted by the Academy of Medicine, College of Family Physicians and the Singapore Medical Association. CME points for local DLPs will be submitted by the CME providers / Professional Bodies.

There are also overseas DLPs (eg: Medscape) recognised by the ACCME which doctors can particpate and claim for CME points.