How to fill an application for accreditation of Continuing Medical Education activity in Allergology.

Continuing medical education (CME) is a critical tool as well as a generally accepted concern for physicians, while being both a commitment and an obligation for the Administration. In Spain, during the past decades, CME has been a constant concern of many groups; however, it was not until the end of the eighties when efforts at accreditation began to emerge. A significant step was the establishment of the Commission on Continuing Education of Health Professions of the National Health System, an agency of the Consejo Interterritorial (Inter-regional Council), whose accreditation system started in 1998, using the figure of Sector Conference, included in Articles 5 and 8 of the Ley de Régimen Jurídico de las Administraciones Públicas y del Procedimiento Administrativo Común (Law on Legal Regime of Public Administration and Common Administrative Procedures), as Senior Technical Body on the matter. Since then, various Regional Committees and the Spanish Accreditation System of Continuing Medical Education (SEAFORMEC) have been created. Although we earlier published a guide, in this manuscript we have updated the steps that must be taken to apply for accreditation of CME activity in Allergology, explaining the different items in the official application form, clarifying to whom the request should be addressed, and outlining the foundations on which the activities will be evaluated for accreditation purposes, in order to ensure that the training meets the highest standards for quality, so that the objectives that lead to achieving maximum performance and competence of health professionals may be reached.

Efficient bibliographic searches on allergy using ISI databases.

The aim of this article is to provide an introduction to using databases from the Thomson ISI Web of Knowledge, with special reference to Citation Indexes as an analysis tool for publications, and also to explain the meaning of the well-known Impact Factor. We present the partially modified new Consultation Interface to enhance information search routines of these databases. It introduces distinctive methods in search bibliography, including the correct application of analysis tools, paying particular attention to Journal Citation Reports and Impact Factor. We finish this article with comment on the consequences of using the Impact Factor as a quality indicator for the assessment of journals and publications, and how to ensure measures for indexing in the Thomson ISI Databases.