Modern aspects of continuous medical education.

Continuous medical education represents the final and often most poorly understood stage of physician education. It is defined as any and all ways by which doctors learn after the formal completion of their training. While evidence-based medicine is defined as "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions for the care of individual patients. The practice of evidence-based medicine means integrating individual clinical expertise with the best available external clinical evidence from systematic research." The primary purpose of this article is to discuss the modern and technological aspects of continuing medical education and how it helps to maintain and improve clinical performance of practicing doctors and patient care. The article also emphasizes evidence-based medicine as a newly evolved, rapidly growing discipline for learners and researchers, which has extended the application of its principles to all professions associated with health care, including purchasing and management.