Ethical Medtech, an industry self-governing body, has prepared new rules for support of educational events. Starting on January 1, 2019, DPS will follow the new Ethical Medtech rules on voucher purchases. These rules define for which kind of educational events industry may purchase vouchers.

 

All J&J supported activities must be compliant with Ethical MedTech rules. The new rules outline minimum requirements for “practicals”, which includes hands-on sessions as well as discussions and demonstrations.

 

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The new rules stipulate that 50% of the course duration needs to be spent on “practicals”. The total event duration is counted in contact hours (ie, the duration of time in which education takes place). Breaks, welcome speeches, etc are to be deducted. At least 33% of the total course duration must involve “hands-on” activities. For a definition of practicals, see the graphic below:

 

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The new rule goes into effect on January 1, 2019. Vouchers for participants can be bought by DPS only if the following two conditions are met:

 

• At least 50% of the total event duration involves “practicals” as defined by MedTech
• At least 33% of the total event duration involves “hands-on” activities (with artificial bones, human specimen, etc).

 

While all AOTrauma Principles courses fulfill these requirements, some of the CPD-level programs need adaptation if there is a wish for them to be eligible for DPS Voucher support (see graph below).

 

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AO is in a dialogue with Ethical MedTech about this new rule and its application on Masters’ level courses.