FAQs

According to Art. 9 of the Continuous Education Regulations (FBO), As the holder of a Swiss or recognized foreign specialist title (including “general practitioners”), you are required to undertake continuous education for as long as you practice medicine in Switzerland. Doctors who are primarily engaged in postgraduate education to obtain a specialist title or specialized in hematology are not required to participate in continuous education; this also applies to trainees who already hold a postgraduate title.

The Continuous Education Regulations (Art. 4 para. 2) recommend 10 days of continuous education per year (= 80 hours). A total of 50 credits (= 50 hours) must be earned. 30 hours are considered self-study and do not need to be documented.

You can record your accumulated credits centrally on the SIWF online portal. There you can access your credits at any time and, at the end of the three-year continuous education period, check whether you have accumulated enough credits to renew your continuous education diploma. The continuous education diploma must be renewed every three years.

SIWF quick guide to credit recording

No, continuous education is a professional obligation, and failure to comply with it may result in a reprimand or a fine of up to CHF 20’000 from the cantonal health authorities. It is not possible to revoke a specialist title (see Art. 43 MedBG).

No, you are not required to undertake continuous education during this time. The continuous education requirement only applies to doctors who practise medicine in Switzerland (Art. 9 FBO). The continuous education requirement only resumes after your return to Switzerland. You can then either start a new three-year continuous education period or claim a two-year reduction in your continuous education obligation for your stay abroad. Stays abroad lasting less than four months are not sufficient to reduce the continuous education obligation.

Obtaining the continuous education diploma is not a legal requirement. The decisive factor is that you complete the prescribed amount of continuous education. Your specialist title remains unaffected. However, without a continuous education diploma, you will have to accept the following disadvantages:
In the event of an inspection, you must convince the competent cantonal supervisory authorities that your continuous education meets the usual standards. The same applies to any liability proceedings.
Without an entry for a continuous education diploma or confirmation of continuous education in the register www.doctorfmh.ch, you would have to confirm the special continuous education for TARMED grandfathered services in the database (www.myfmh.ch) and document it with appropriate records.

Once the three-year continuous education period has expired, you can print out your diploma yourself on the SIWF online portal, provided you have earned the required 150 credits. The continuous education diploma should be renewed every three years. Your diploma will be automatically published on the www.doctorfmh.ch platform, which eliminates the need for individual proof to health authorities and cost bearers.

For members of the SSH, the fee for the continuous education diploma is included in the membership fee. Non-members pay a fee of CHF 300 for the acquisition or renewal of their diploma.

Further important information on the continuous education diploma can be found in the section Frequently asked questions about continuous education or in Swiss Medical Journal: Why do I need a continuous education diploma?

No. You can limit yourself to the continuous education program that best suits your current professional activity. It is of course possible to obtain both continuous education diplomas. This can be done without much additional effort, as the core continuous education of one continuous education program automatically counts as extended continuous education for the other. Once you have completed the subject-specific core continuous education courses for both specializations without any overlap, you are entitled to both continuous education diplomas.

Yes. Working part-time does not entitle you to a reduction in your continuous education requirements. Continuous education serves to ensure quality and maintain your medical competence, which must be fully guaranteed even when working part-time.

Yes. Interruptions in medical practice totalling four months or more within the three-year continuous education period will result in a proportional reduction in the required credits. The same applies to stays abroad or other interruptions in medical practice in Switzerland.

No. If you are not practicing medicine, you are not required to participate in continuous education. Once you resume your medical practice, the continuous education requirement will resume.

It is not possible to catch up on continuous education in the following year or transfer it to the next continuous education period. However, you can print out a diploma valid for the next three years from the continuous education platform at any time once you have achieved the required number of credits (without grounds for reduction = 150 credits).

Your continuous education obligation begins in the year following the year in which you were awarded your title. In your case, this is 1 January of next year.