Saudi Commission for Health Specialties

Executive Rule
For the Activities of Continuing Medical Education
and Professional Developing (CME/PD)

1430 H - 2009

Table of Contents
Page Articles
1 Introduction
Article One: Definition of Continuing Medical Education and
3
Professional Developing
4 Article Two: Objectives

1
 Article Three: Mechanism and Conditions for Accrediting the
4 Organizations
that arrange the Activities and Websites
5 Article Four: Classification of the Organizations arrange the Activities
6 Article Five: Types of Activities
Article Six: Regulations of accrediting the activities provided by the
8
organizations or websites
9 Article Seven: Mechanism of counting credit hours
10 Article Eight: Mechanism of counting credit hours for lecturers
10 Article Nine: Accreditation fees for activities
11 Article Ten: Mechanism of applying for activities' accreditation
Article Eleven: Mechanism of the reservation of dates for major
12
conferences and symposia for the first category
Article Twelve: Regulations that must be followed when attending
12
activities
Article Thirteen: The categories exempted from the condition of getting
13 credit hours in Continuing Medical Education and Professional
Developing
13 Article Fourteen: General Instructions
Article Fifteen: The Continuing Medical Education hours required for
14
renewing the professional registration of the various health categories

The Terms that are Mentioned in the Executive Rule Shall Mean the Following:
Commission: Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.
Organizers: are institutes that apply for accreditation in order to carry out the activities of
Continuing Medical Education and Professional Developing.
Continuing Medical Education: Continuing Medical Education and Professional Developing.
Activity: the scientific program related to the activities of Continuing Medical Education and to
the health field.
Health Practitioner: the person who works in the health field.

2
 Introduction
The Board of Trustees at the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties:
Prompted by its keenness to activate its role within the system of the
various health sectors that aims to develop health services as the
authorized organizations according to its basic rule that was issued
according to the Royal Decree No (M/2), dated (6/2/1413 H)
corresponding to (5/8/1992) and related to setting sound principles and
standards for practicing health professions, establishing scientific
societies for health specialties and evaluating and accrediting the
activities of Continuing Medical Education and Professional Developing
in the Kingdom that are related to convening health conferences and
symposia, and
Acting according to its responsibilities:
Has adopted this Executive Rule No (23/A/27) dated (30/10/1427 H)
Corresponding to (21/12/2006), which aims to achieve continuous
professional development that illustrates the mechanism of accrediting
the organizations that provide the activities and also the nature of these
activities in order to keep abreast with the rapid development in health
field, ensures the good quality of the programs and activities provided to
health practitioners in all specialties in order to ensure that they follow
the new developments in their specialties and develop their skills on a
continuous basis to raise the standard of health performance and to
preserve a good standard for practicing health professions as it is the case
in advanced countries. The Saudi Commission for Health Specialties
stipulated that the health practitioner must get a minimum level of credit
hours in Continuing Medical Education and Professional Developing as
part of his professional responsibilities and basic condition for getting a
license to practice the health profession. The Commission emphasizes the
importance of these programs that aim to update information and develop
technical skills in a manners that achieves and maintain distinguished
health care for the individual and the society. Moreover, the Commission
was lately assigned the task of organizing health conferences with regard
to their convening date, issues and venues according to the Royal Decree
No (3746/MB) dated (14/4/1428 H) corresponding to (1/5/2007) in order
to avoid double work, conflict in the dates of conferences and the
repetition of issues in the same city.

3
Article One: Definition of Continuing Medical Education and
Professional Developing:
Continuing Medical Education and Professional Developing is defined as
educational activities that aim to communicate sound and updated
information and health skill in an effective manner to reach those who
work in the health field, each in his specialty.

Article Two: Objectives:

The objective shall include:
1. Raising the efficiency and quality of the health practitioners'
performance in order to improve the service provided to patients.
2. Preserving and developing the health practitioners' medical and
scientific knowledge.
3. Following up by the health practitioners for new developments in
their specialties in order to develop their skills and expertise.

Article Three: Mechanism and Conditions for Accrediting the

Organizations that Arrange the Activities and Websites:

A- The Arranging Organizations:

1- Make an official application to the Commission to accredit it in
order to provide the activities of Continuing Medical Education.
2- Enclose proof that it has a special administration of Continuing
Medical Education and Professional Developing to be responsible
for providing the activities on behalf of the organizations, and
name the official in charge of this administration as well as the
means of contacting him in order to register him in the
Commission's records.
3- Fill in the electronic organizations' accreditation form, which is
available on the website of Continuing Medical Education
(http://www.scfhs.org)
4- Abide by providing the type of activities officially specified for the
arranging organizations in accordance with the accreditation
certificate issued to it.
5- Abide by all the general instructions and regulations stipulated by
the Executive Rule for Continuing Medical Education and
Professional Developing.
6- The arranging organizations must be officially licensed to exercise
its activity whether from the Commission or from other official
governmental bodies.

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7- The Scientific Health Societies must be officially licensed to
exercise their activity either under the supervision of the Ministry
of Higher Education (Saudi Universities), the Commission or the
Ministry of Social affairs. As for scientific clubs, they must be
under the supervision of Scientific Health Societies or Health
Colleges in the region where they are located.
8- The period of granting the accreditation license shall be five years
and it must be renewed at least three months before its expiry.

B- Websites:
1. The organizations or the applicant shall be specialist and
qualified in the health field.
2. An official application shall be made accompanied by the
complete plan for the project.
3. Filling in the accreditation form.
4. Paying the fees specified by the Commission.
5. The website shall meet the best specifications with regard to
design and production and it shall be owned by the applicant
organizations.
6. It shall be and interactive website through which the service
provider and beneficiary can communicate.
7. The website must have supervisor who is in charge of it and
a clear mechanism must be set up for contacting him.
8. Establishing a computer center that contains qualified human
cadres, technological facilities and technical support.
9. Providing contracts from the participant lecturers and
technicians.
10. Specifying clear procedures for admission and registration
in the system.
11. Creating a mechanism to ascertain the practitioner's
attendance and benefit from the activity.
12. Specifying the annual maximum level allowed for each
health practitioner according to the category in the website.
13. The website shall be licensed for one year and it shall be
subject for re-evaluation.

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Article Four: Classification of the Organizations that Arrange the
Activities:
A- The Authorized Organizations Shall be Divided into Three
Categories:
First Category: includes the organizations that are allowed to provide
all types of activities and obtain the maximum limit of accreditation,
which is 30 credit hours. These organizations can organize major
conferences and symposia according to the rules and regulations of the
Commission, and they include the following:
1- Scientific Health Colleges.
2- Medical and Health Colleges at governmental and
private universities.
3- Main governmental and private hospitals whose
capacity is not less than 500 beds.
4- Specialist hospitals and centers.
Second Category: includes the general hospitals whose capacity
ranges from 100 to 499 beds that can offer lectures, symposia and
workshops in a manner that should not exceed 15 credit hours for a
single activity besides the internal activities. These hospitals should
also have the opportunity to participate in organizing activities to gain
a higher number of hours such as the major conferences and symposia
in conjunction with Scientific Health Societies, Health Colleges at
universities and Specialist Hospitals in accordance with Commission's
rules and regulations.
Third Category: includes other organizations in the health field
represented in the following (governmental health institutes, private
health institutes licensed by the Commission, governmental health
centers, the centers licensed by the Commission to provide Continuing
Medical Education and Professional Developing, Scientific health
clubs and others). These organizations should also have the ability to
offer lectures, symposia and general workshop provided that single
activity shall not exceed 10 credit hours according to the
Commission's rules and regulations.
B- Unauthorized Organizations:
1- Medical companies and establishments such as
medical equipment companies and pharmaceutical
companies.
2- Governmental and private sectors that are not
specialized in health fields.
3- Health and educational sectors that have not yet
been licensed to practice their activity

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Article Five: Types of Activities:
A- Lecture, Symposium, Conference:
Lecture: the presentation of a group of theoretical health
information on a certain topic in order to develop and
upgrade the health practitioner's information during a
specific period of time.
Symposium: a group of lectures that are presented by a
group of specialist lecturers on a certain topic during a
specific period of time. These lecturers are nominated by the
committee that organizes this activity.
Conference: a publicized scientific public gathering during
which various scientific papers are presented by specialists
on topics and themes related to the relevant specialty. It is
called 'an international conference' when specialist external
organizations participate in organizing the conference or
presenting the papers such as scientific societies, universities
and specialist organizations in the health field from outside
the Kingdom. A preparatory committee is formed besides a
specialist scientific committee that referees and accepts the
scientific papers and nominates the lecturers.
B- Workshop:
General workshop: a practical training on a general topic
outside the specialty that aims to develop the general skills of
the health practitioners.
Specialized Workshop: a specialist practical training for a group
of health practitioners in specialty field.
C- Internal Activity:
This activity has an educational training nature and is
implemented inside the governmental or private health
establishment. It is normally provided by the staff of the
relevant department for their colleagues in the same department
or other departments. It is represented in reviewing clinical
cases, studying scientific articles or giving periodical lectures
whether weekly, monthly or annually as well as other similar
activities.
D- External Activities:
These include the scientific activities that are held in the health
field outside the Kingdom, and the organizer wishes them to be
accredited by the Commission.
E- Activities of the Websites:
These are the scientific activities provided in the health field
through electronic websites specialized in providing activities
through the internet in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia only and they
are accredited by the Commission to do so.
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 F- Personal Activities:
This is a group of activities that depend on personal endeavor
through authoring books, reading, watching or listening to
specialist material related to health or health services.
G- Unaccredited Activities:
1- The activities presented for accreditation while they
are running or when they are finished.
2- When it became clear that a particular lecturer is not
specialized or qualified in the topics of the lectures
in question or he has not enough experience.
3- The educational activities that are directed to the
members of the public and they have no direct
relation to the health field.
4- The Preparatory Test Programs for Saudi, Arab or
any other Fellowship
5- The activities that take the form of multiple choice
questions (MCQS).
Article Six: Regulations of Accrediting the Activities Provided by the
Arranging Organizations or Websites:
A- The organizations that arrange the activities:
1- Shall obtain a valid accreditation number from the Commission.
2- Shall apply for the accreditation of the relevant activity by the
Administration responsible for the activities of Continuing Medical
Education. This Administration shall be responsible for issuing
attendance certificates.
3- The activities provided shall be developmental not qualifying in
their nature.
4- The complete activity shall be presented in English and its
objectives shall be clear and specifically mentioned along with the
target audience.
5- An application shall be made through the electronic system three
weeks before the activity is held to avoid the automatic refusal of
the application by the system in the event of not abiding by the
specified period.
6- The internal activity shall only be provided for the whole
Gregorian Year. The complete activity shall be presented for
accreditation before the end of the year; and it shall not be
implemented once again unless a new application for accreditation
is made to the Commission.
7- The lecturer shall be qualified and specialist in the field and has
experience in the activity field.
8- In the event of the organizer wishing to repeat the same activity
more than once during the year, this must be made clear when
making the application. The date and venue of repeating the
activity shall be specified and complete fees shall be paid for the
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 number of repeating the activity in order to obtain the numbers of
accreditation comparable to number of repeating the activity.
9- The organization shall abide by carrying out the activity in the
specified time and venue. The activity shall only be re-directed,
postponed or cancelled after the Commission is notified at least
two weeks before the activity takes place.
10- The organization shall state in all its advertisements that the
activity is accredited by the Commission and shall include the
attendance and lecturers' certificates, the number and date of
accreditation, the number of credit hours and the Commission's
logo.
11- The organization shall automatically register the attending
applicants according to the system adopted by the Commission.
12- Attendance certificates shall only be given to those who
attended the complete activity otherwise the actual credit hours
attended by the health practitioner shall be specified.
13- The Commission recommends that certificates it designed
and proposed, and which are available on the electronic website of
Continuing Medical Education (for attendance and lecturers) shall
be filled in English.
B- Websites:
1. The scientific material shall be directly related to health or
health services and shall depend on the most recent scientific
references and the essential periodical in the specialty.
2. The person who presents the activity shall be a specialist
academic or has a postgraduate degree in the field of the
scientific topic presented. His rank shall not be less than
assistant professor or consultant in the field of specialty and
his Curriculum Vitae shall be published.
3. The activity shall be presented in English and shall be in
clear scientific language.
4. The scientific material shall be in the form of a scientific
article along the lines of what is written in specialized
scientific journals and references shall be mentioned at the
end of the article.
5. The scientific material may be presented in the form of
power point slides or a film provided that the material is
accompanied by audio or written explanation.
6. The scientific material shall be studied and approved by an
independent scientific committee. The members of this
committee shall be university professors or consultants in
that specialty. The members shall not be less than 3 who all
have a direct relation to running the website or the
organization that owns it. Then the scientific material is sent
to the Commission.

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Article Seven: Mechanism of Counting Credit Hours:
The Administration of Continuing Medical Education shall study the
activities according to specialty and it may seek the help of a scientific
committee if necessary for the purpose of evaluation. Counting the hours
shall be as follows:
1. The lecture shall be counted as one hour as a maximum limit
except for the lectures that given by the internationally renowned
lecturers who are distinguished in the field of their specialty where
the hour is counted as double the specified period.
2. Only 30 minutes shall be counted as a full hour father counting the
aggregate hours of the activity.
3. The activities that are presented simultaneously shall be counted as
only one presentation.
4. The general workshop such as presenting clinical cases, health
education activities and the activities in the field of health
management and leadership shall be counted as half their actual
time.
5. Specialized workshops that are directed to specialist or emanating
from the specialty of continuing medical education and
professional developing such as communication skills, evidence-
based medicine and methods of scientific research shall be counted
as full time.
6. Each scientific material presented through the electronic websites
is counted as one hour. The activities presented for the purpose of
registration shall be counted in a manner that shall not exceed 10
hours for physicians, 7 hours for pharmacists and 5 hours for
nurses, technicians and other health professions in one year.
7. In personal activities, the health practitioner shall make a statement
in which he states the scientific material that he read and its
references.
8. Publishing scientific papers and book chapters shall be counted as
5 hours for the first author, 3 hours for the second author and 2
hours for the third author and those who follow him. 10 hours shall
be counted for authoring the book provided that copies of scientific
papers or books are enclosed or some evidence is enclosed that
suggests they were approved for publishing.
9. Opening speeches, discussions, payer times, meal times, tests,
closing sessions and distribution of certificates shall not be
counted.

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Article Eight: Mechanism of Counting Credit Hours for Lecturers:
The Continuing Medical Education hours shall be counted
for the lecturer as double the period in which he gave his
lecture with a maximum limit that shall not exceed 30 hours.
The same activity shall not be repeated and evidence of the
lecturer's participation shall be presented.
Article Nine: Accreditation Fees for Activities:
The Commission shall procure financial fees for the accreditation of
Continuing Medical Education and Professional Developing according to
the following regulations:
1- The internal activities shall be accredited without procurement of
fees.
2- Other activities: 50 SR. shall be procured for each educational hour
accredited by the Commission provided that the fees paid for the
accreditation of any activity shall not be less than 200 SR.
3- External activities provided by organizations outside the Kingdom:
100 SR. shall be procured for each educational hour accredited by
the Commission provided that the fees paid for the accreditation of
any activity shall not be less than 400 SR.
4- Electronic websites' activities: 2400 SR. shall be procured for each
activity accredited by the Commission and that shall be presented
during single year.
5- The fees shall be deposited in the Commission's account according
to the number of hours presented and the deposit bond shall be sent
to the Commission by registered mail.
6- In the case of the Commission declining to accredit the activity in
question, 200 SR. shall be deducted as administrative fees and the
rest of the amount shall be redeemed.
Article Ten: Mechanism of Applying for Activities' Accreditation:
1. Accessing the electronic website of the Continuing Medical
Education Administration to fill in the information regarding the
activity accreditation form along with its appendices (scientific
table and filling in the CV of each lecturer electronically).
2. Paying the accreditation fees and enclosing a copy of the deposit
bond or the electronic transfer through the system except for
internal activities (as stipulated by Article Nine/1).
3. Enclosing a letter applying for accreditation and signed by the
official of the Continuing Medical Education Administration who
is approved by the Commission. The Commission shall be supplied
with the name of the person who is authorized to sign the
certificates.
4. Mentioning the number and date of the professional registration
card of the lecturer or trainer who conducts the activity if he works
inside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

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 5. Keeping the eligibility number after electronic registration in order
to follow up with the Commission.
6. When the application meets the requirements, the reply shall be
sent through organization's e-mail address.
7. A complete copy of the activities related to the electronic websites
shall only be sent to the Continuing Medical Education
Administration at the Commission.
Article Eleven: Mechanism of Dates Reservation for Major Conferences
for the First Category:
1. Looking into the agenda of approved conferences and reserved
through the electronic website of the Continuing Medical
Education Administration and then selecting the appropriate time
for the symposium or conference.
2. The organization wishing to provide a similar scientific activity in
the same city must put a period of time that is not less than three
months between conferences.
3. Filling in the initial approval form provided that the type, title,
proposed date and venue of the activity are specified besides the
e-mail address in order to facilitate the process of those who intend
to participate or attend.
4. The initial approval shall be sent through the organization's e-mail
address, which is approved by the Commission.
5. Making an application for the accreditation of the continuing
medical education hours, later on after the completion of the
conference scientific program by a period that is not less than three
weeks.
Article Twelve: Regulations that Must be Followed when Attending
Activities:
1. Ensuring the Commission's accreditation of the activity through
visiting the electronic website of Continuing Medical Education
and professional Developing in order to ascertain the information
related to the activity (name, venue and date).
2. The activity that targets the health practitioner shall be in his
specialty field.
3. Ensuring that the specified number of hours allocated to the type of
activities illustrated by the table (Article Fifteen) is met.
4. Attendance shall be for the whole period of the activity according
to the period accredited by the Commission.
5. Ensuring that an attendance certificate is obtained in which the
number and date of the activity's accreditation are stated besides
the signature of the official approved by the Commission to
conduct the activity and the Commission's logo.
6. In the case of internal activities, the Commission shall suffice itself
with the letter or certificate issued by the Academic Affairs or the
Head Department that includes the number and date of

12
 accreditation in addition to the activity's actual attendance hours
during the year.
7. Handwritten or scanned certificates shall not be accepted by the
Commission.
8. The health practitioner shall be entitled to attend the accredited
activity only once.
9. All the provisions mentioned above shall apply to attending the
activities conducted outside the kingdom provided that they are
provided by accredited scientific health institutions. The health
practitioner shall bring an attendance certificate that include the
number of accredited hours or enclose the scientific program of the
activity.
Article Thirteen: the Categories Exempted from the Condition of
Getting Credit Hours in Continuing Medical Education and
Professional Developing:
1. The physicians, pharmacists and others who are registered in
training programs under the supervision of the Commission.
2. All health assistants who attended the health assistant course.
3. Optical labs technicians.
4. Health management technicians.
5. Medical records technicians.
6. Medical secretariat technicians.
7. Medical equipment and health supervision technicians.
8. Environmental technicians.
9. Physicians and other non-practicing health categories.
Article Fourteen: General Instructions:
1. The Commission shall have the right to accredit the number of
hours depending on what is approved by the Specialist Committee
and not necessarily as mentioned by the organizer.
2. The Commission shall have the right to refuse the applications that
reach it after application deadline, incomplete applications that do
not meet the requirements or the applications that are made during
or after the activity or the activities that are scientifically weak.
3. No announcement shall be made about the accreditation of an
activity before it is finally accredited by the Commission or given
the approval to be convened.
4. The Commission shall only be responsible for accrediting the
activity and it shall not be responsible for directing letters on behalf
of any organization to bring in lecturers from outside the Kingdom
and the like. The organizer shall be responsible for such things.
5. In case of the organizations' breach of what is stipulated by the
Executive Rule, the Commission shall have the right to take the
appropriate measure with regard to that and cancel the
accreditation is necessary.
6. The hours obtained by the health practitioner shall be taken during
the period of applying for the license renewal.
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Article Fifteen: The Continuing Medical Education Hours Required for Renewing the
Professional Registration of the Various Health Categories:

Average
Required Hours of hours
Details Category
in one
5 Years 3 Years year

(12) hours (continuing education units) in one year as a minimum

level for symposia, conferences and specialized workshops. The
required hours can be completed through other activities as
follows: Physicians
(10) hours as a maximum level in one year for internal activities.
(10) hours as a maximum level in one year for developing general
150 hours 90 hours 30 and
skills including the activities accredited through the internet. Dentists
(10) hours for personal activities such as specialized reading,
authoring books and watching scientific films in the field of
specialty.

(7) hours (continuing education units) in one year as a minimum

level for symposia, conferences and specialized workshops. The
required hours can be completed through other activities as 100 hours
follows: 60 hours for
for
(7) hours as a maximum level in one year for internal activities. pharmacists Pharmacis
(7) hours as a maximum level in one year for developing general
pharmacists 20
and ts
skills including the activities accredited through the internet. and
consultants
(5) hours for personal activities such as specialized reading, consultants
authoring books and watching scientific films in the field of
specialty.
(5) hours (continuing education units) in one year as a minimum
level for symposia, conferences and specialized workshops. The
required hours can be completed through other activities as
follows: 75 hours for 45 hours for
(5) hours as a maximum level in one year for internal activities. specialists specialists
(5) hours as a maximum level in one year for developing general
15 Nurses
and and
skills including the activities accredited through the internet. consultants consultants
(5) hours for personal activities such as specialized reading,
authoring books and watching scientific films in the field of
specialty.
(5) hours (continuing education units) in one year as a minimum
level for symposia, conferences and specialized workshops. The 50 hours 30 hours
required hours can be completed through other activities as
follows: for all for all
(5) hours as a maximum level in one year for internal activities. categories categories Technician
(5) hours as a maximum level in one year for developing general 10
of of s
skills including the activities accredited through the internet.
(5) hours for personal activities such as specialized reading,
technician technician
authoring books and watching scientific films in the field of s s
specialty.
(5) hours (continuing education units) in one year as a minimum
level for symposia, conferences and specialized workshops. The
required hours can be completed through other activities as 100 hours Other
follows: 60 hours for
for Applied
(5) hours as a maximum level in one year for internal activities. specialists
(5) hours as a maximum level in one year for developing general
specialists 10 - 20 Medical
and
skills including the activities accredited through the internet. and Profession
consultants
(5) hours for personal activities such as specialized reading, consultants s
authoring books and watching scientific films in the field of
specialty.
Manal Al Gazlan
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