- CONACEM was founded in 2011 and is in charge of evaluating the capacities of doctors to authorize those who will become certified and recertified medical specialists.
- To pass this procedure, you can take an exam or attend conferences, courses, and workshops that offer certification points.
- The main objective is to promote constant updating among specialists.
Updating is a must for all healthcare professionals due to the innovations that appear every day. For the same reason, you never finish learning because there is always new knowledge to acquire. With this in mind, not only is there an insufficient number of doctors in the country a problem, but there are too few certified medical specialists.
In this sense, if the path to be a general practitioner is long, in the case of specialists it is even longer. After completing the degree, they must present and pass the National Examination for Applicants for Medical Residences (ENARM). It is not an easy task because it is one of the most complex tests that exist within the educational system.
Everything that must be done at the end of the residency
In addition to the difficulty of the exam, the real problem is that there are few places available. Despite the recent increase in places, only 40% of applicants get a place. In this way, not even half of the young people can fulfill their dream.
However, completing the residence does not mean that it is the end of the road because you must continue with the constant preparation for life. It is not optional, but rather a requirement that doctors must meet in order to be certified medical specialists.
There are two main ways to do this. The first is to take an exam to verify that you have sufficient knowledge to care for patients. While the second is to attend congresses, seminars and other official meetings that award certification points.
In this case, the National Regulatory Committee of Medical Specialty Councils (CONACEM) is the body in charge of bringing together all the Specialist Associations in the country. It was founded in 2011 and since then it has been the body in charge of evaluating the capacities of specialists.
Although it offers several positive aspects, there are also some complaints about its operation. The inconvenience lies in the increase in bureaucratic procedures. Some medical certification exams cost up to 30,000 pesos.
In which areas are there more certified medical specialists?
Within the CONACEM catalog there is a wide variety of options that cover all medical specialties and subspecialties available in Mexico. Within the current offer there are some that stand out from the rest because they are the ones with the most certified doctors.
According to the information updated to 2022, the Mexican Board of Certification in Pediatrics it is the most numerous because it has 16,344 registered specialists. While a little further down is the Mexican Board of Certification in Family Medicine with 13,481 elements. In both cases, these are two of the most requested areas to receive care by patients.
Other of the most booming options are the National Board of Certification in Anesthesiology with 12,944 registered specialists and the Mexican Council of Gynecology and Obstetrics con 11,345.
A very important clarification that must be made is that it does not mean that it is the total number of Mexican specialists in each area, but only that of the certificates. There are more elements but for various reasons they have not followed the update process requested by the authorities.
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