CME & Accreditation → Industry Partnerships & CME


Industry Partnerships and CME: Protecting the Independence of Medical Education


The Association of General Practitioners of Jamaica (AGPJ) values responsible collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, healthcare organizations and other industry partners that support the continuing professional development of physicians.

Industry support can play an important role in facilitating access to high-quality medical education. At the same time, Continuing Medical Education (CME) must remain scientifically credible, educationally relevant and independent of commercial promotion.

AGPJ therefore maintains a clear distinction between accredited medical education, commercial sponsorship and product promotion.


Independence of AGPJ CME Programmes

For educational activities organized by AGPJ, the Association retains responsibility for the scientific and educational programme.

This includes:

  1. identifying the educational needs of physicians;
  2. determining the theme and topics of the programme;
  3. establishing learning goals and measurable learning objectives;
  4. selecting appropriate faculty and moderators;
  5. reviewing the scientific programme for educational relevance and balance; and
  6. submitting eligible programmes through the established CME accreditation process.

Commercial sponsorship of an AGPJ programme does not provide the sponsor with control over the selection of faculty, scientific topics, learning objectives or accredited educational content.


Sponsored Sessions

AGPJ recognizes that industry partners may wish to provide information relating to their therapeutic areas, clinical experience or products.

Where appropriate, a pharmaceutical or healthcare organization sponsoring an AGPJ educational activity may be allocated a clearly identified sponsored session that is separate from the accredited scientific programme.

Such sessions may include educational presentations, clinical cases or discussions relevant to the sponsor's therapeutic area. Where the content is promotional or product-specific, the session will be identified as a Sponsored/Promotional Session – Not for CME Credit, and its duration will not be included in the calculation of accredited CME scientific time.

This separation helps physicians clearly distinguish independent accredited medical education from industry-sponsored or promotional communication.


Pharmaceutical Company-Organized Educational Meetings

Pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations may also approach AGPJ regarding educational meetings that they wish to organize.

AGPJ does not endorse pharmaceutical products, product launches or promotional meetings.

Where CME accreditation is being sought, the proposed activity must be developed as a genuine educational programme addressing an appropriate clinical or professional educational need.

For example, rather than developing a meeting around the promotion of a particular antihypertensive product, an educational programme might examine areas such as:

  1. contemporary approaches to hypertension management;
  2. selection and intensification of antihypertensive therapy;
  3. resistant or difficult-to-control hypertension;
  4. hypertension in patients with cardiovascular, renal or metabolic comorbidities;
  5. adherence and barriers to blood-pressure control; or
  6. case-based approaches to therapeutic decision-making.

Clinical cases can be particularly valuable when they encourage physicians to assess evidence, consider therapeutic alternatives and apply clinical reasoning to real-world patient management.


Scientific Balance and Commercial Products

Accredited scientific content should be evidence-based, balanced and educational rather than promotional.

A commercial brand should therefore not become the focus of an accredited presentation or be preferentially promoted within the scientific programme.

Where discussion of a particular therapy is scientifically relevant, it should occur within an appropriate clinical and evidence-based context, with consideration of relevant therapeutic alternatives where applicable.

Presenters must also disclose relevant relationships or potential conflicts of interest in accordance with applicable CME requirements.


AGPJ CME Review and Accreditation Process

Programmes submitted to AGPJ for CME consideration are subject to an established review process:

Educational Proposal/Submission → AGPJ Secretariat Compliance Review → AGPJ CME Education and Accreditation Committee Review → CME Accreditation Application → Accreditation Decision → Post-Activity Compliance


Submission of an educational programme to AGPJ, provision of sponsorship, or payment of applicable administrative or programme fees does not guarantee the award of CME credits.

CME credit is dependent upon the programme satisfying the applicable educational and accreditation requirements and receiving the required approval.


Our Commitment

AGPJ welcomes partnerships that advance the knowledge and clinical competence of physicians while protecting the independence and integrity of continuing medical education.


Our objective is not to prevent collaboration between the medical profession and industry. Rather, it is to ensure that there is a clear and transparent boundary between education and promotion.


This approach protects physicians, participating organizations, sponsors and, most importantly, the integrity of the educational process.


Organizations interested in supporting an AGPJ educational programme or submitting an educational activity for CME consideration are invited to contact the AGPJ Secretariat for guidance before finalizing their programme.