Professional levels in relation to the needs and to self-education abilities. A pedagogy for continuining medical education.

The pedagogical peculiarities of continuing medical education (CME) essentially lie in the fact that it is addressed to adult subjects with their personal style of learning and showing a disposition to autonomous learning. Therefore CME cannot be limited to educational and training approaches but should be aimed at education and training. To be effective, CME must privilege interactive teaching methodologies. Among them, problem-solving, decision-making learning, where positive consideration though critical of mistake, as further educational instrument, seems particularly consistent with its goals. Other elements relevant to continuing education of the adult professional are: the multiprofessional, multidisciplinary setting; the implementation of co-educational communities where all are teachers and students at the same time and where metacognitive processes are adequately stimulated; the exploitation of research as remarkable educational instrument.