Assisting Parliament of Georgia to Develop Continuous Education Policy for Doctors

Becoming a doctor requires many years of education. But the learning does not stop once the diploma has been attained, and practice begins. With this in mind, PMCG, under the framework of the USAID Good Governance Initiative (GGI) program, is supporting Parliament’s Healthcare and Social Issues Committee to develop efficient and relevant policy on continuous education for doctors.

The idea for the continuous education was initiated by the Committee in July 2015 and was later discussed with leading experts from the medical education sector, who agreed that continuous education is a pressing issue.

To meet the main goal of the assistance and to develop a comprehensive policy, at the first stage PMCG’s team will conduct a thorough needs assessment to identify the stakeholders, what kind of practices work and what do not, and what has previously been tried in this direction.

Based on the assessment results, experts will formulate policy options applicable to the Georgian context and discuss with stakeholders who will supply their feedback. Later, PMCG will develop the policy paper and outreach plan to communicate with the local and national government, doctors, medical students and general public.

The purposes of continuing medical education are as follows: to maintain and improve clinical performance; to refresh the individual’s understanding of clinical and operational roles and responsibilities; to update skills and knowledge in all treatment procedures within the scope of the provider; and to sustain skills in the use and maintenance of all equipment required to render emergency medical care.