Continuing Medical Education Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

The global continuing medical education market was valued at USD 8.66 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 13.52 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 7.70% during the forecast period. Continuing Medical Education (CME) is a mechanism for clinical professionals to stay abreast of the rapidly evolving practices in the medical field. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more important for clinical professionals and physicians to keep up with treatment development in conjunction with feedback from the medical community. After the pandemic, several factors probably become responsible for changing the market landscape for CME delivery and acceptance.

MARKET TRENDS & DRIVERS

Increasing Implementation of Omnichannel Communication for CME
Omnichannel has become a major trend in the continuing medical education market in the last three years. These newly adopted and implemented strategies are now expected to enable medical affairs teams to develop personalized experiences that put medical professionals, physicians, and other potential factors at the center of communications planning. Further, it allows them to find appropriate and meaningful information required. These channels ensure that their knowledge demands a suitable format, such as podcast, infographics, text, and video, according to their convenience.

Healthcare Professionals Turning Towards Online For CME
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way of CME in the last two years, 2021-2022. The healthcare world is turning towards digital platforms, with video emerging as an innovative and new face-to-face platform. The shift to digital learning also increased the time required to participate in online CME. Around 1 in 10 physicians (11%) are also turning towards online platforms to access clinical data from live meetings and conferences not being held because of the COVID-19 disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised the value of the online platform and medical education formats, as physical presence is not mandatory. The pandemic forced educational institutes and medical societies to develop and implement new strategies to reduce closed interpersonal contacts. Which moderately supports online CME.

The Increasing Involvement of Next-Generation Simulation Technology In CME
Over the last few years, medical education has gained wider acceptance. In addition, technological advancement in medical education helped redefine learning procedures. The next-generation simulation technologies implementation for continuing medical education is becoming popular quickly. The rapidly transforming clinical systems that restrict class hours and patient availability, administration possibilities, technology advances, and increased diagnostic rate have supported the increasing application rate of simulation technologies in the medical education field.

Shortage of Healthcare Professionals
Due to the shortage of medical professionals in developing and some developed countries, overall, healthcare workers are experiencing a burden in care delivery and patient management. The CME activities and programs help reduce this burden by improving skills, knowledge, performance, and time management.

Changing Medical Landscape With An Increasing Number of New Diseases
Globally, the increasing burden of existing and emerging diseases is the leading cause of disability and mortality. The four major diseases worldwide are cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. But in recent years, infectious diseases such as the COVID-19 pandemic, monkeypox, and certain rare diseases that fall under infectious disorders tremendously increased demand for new therapies. At such places, CME played a significant role and maintained healthcare delivery.

An Increasing Number of Medical Students’ Enrollment
Worldwide, the increasing burden of various disease conditions led to increasing attention in the medical field. Government initiatives are rapidly increasing and accelerating knowledge in the medical field to reduce the burden. Based on this, the increasing number of medical schools, courses, and training programs is accelerating the number of new medical students and academic institutes. With the increasing number of medical students worldwide, it is projected to support the continuing medical education market growth during the forecast period.

Increasing Demand for Short-Time CME
The burden of time management among medical professionals and the demand for short-time CME programs are increasing rapidly. Also, the increasing focus of providers to deliver the short time CME programs at a time of medical professionals through various digital and e-tools is accelerating the industry growth rapidly.

SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY DELIVERY MODE
The global continuing medical education market is segmented into classroom training, e-learning, regular schedule series, and journal. The classroom training segment had the highest market share, approximately 41% in 2022. Classroom training is one of the old, traditional, and most effective delivery modes for continuing medical education. This delivery mode has long been a method that was found to be relatively effective due to face-to-face knowledge delivery with more confidence and accuracy, and the question-answering factor in this method delivers more quality in terms of knowledge, skills, and enhancement. Classroom learning certainly has an important place in the CME procedures, offering participants with hands-on-experience and encouragement with interprofessional collaborations.

Most countries prefer classroom-based CME training. However, over time e-learning has become and will dominate the market in the future, with higher adoption of digital CME training characterized by online classes, mobile-based, app-based, and live webinar-based programs.

INSIGHTS BY SPECIALTY
The oncology specialty segment dominated the global continuing medical education market in 2022. Cancer is one of the leading health conditions witnessed for high mortality and morbidity and steadily increasing prevalence. It resulted in the globally increasing research and development activities in the oncology field regarding medicines and new treatment delivery technologies, increasing demand for training and knowledge. These factors led to increasing demand for CME activities in higher proportion in the oncology field

INSIGHTS BY PROVIDERS
The global continuing medical education market by providers is segmented into NPO’s and physician membership organizations, publishing/educational companies, schools of medicine, hospitals or healthcare delivery systems, and others. The NPO’s and physician membership organizations accounted for the highest market share in 2022 and is expected to dominate the industry during the forecast period. They are a leading source and primary point of contact for medical professionals to learn about newly developed therapies and treatment of health conditions. Furthermore, they offered and managed accreditation services to medical professionals and other healthcare workers, resulting in huge segmental growth.

GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

North America is one of the leading regions in the global continuing medical education market, accounting for a higher market share. The market growth for CME in the region is attributed to the region's huge number of healthcare workers, high adoption of digital tools for CME programs, and transformation in CME delivery during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The U.S. and Canada have more than 23 million health workers available in the region. But, the increasing patient population in the region and decreasing number of healthcare professionals are expected to drive the market growth in upcoming years. In 2022, North America accounted for approximately 36% market share in the global continuing medical education market and dominated the other regions.

Europe is a fragmented market with a large disparity among the European countries in providing CME programs. Most European countries have made CME mandatory for healthcare professionals for recertification, thereby boosting the continuing medical education market. European regulatory bodies provide physicians incentives for completing their CME credits. Some the countries like Germany, France, U.K. have stricter guidelines for CME credits and CME providers. The role played by the accrediting councils in Europe is expected to grow and give better clarity and options for delivering CME programs to physicians.

VENDOR LANDSCAPE

A significant and growing need exists for quality and affordable healthcare services globally. Medical marketing is always evolving, and with unpredictable technological changes, CME providers need to stay on top of all the newest techniques. CME participation has also continued to develop. The healthcare education market has a huge demand for physicians and other medical staff, where the supply is scarce. There is an increased demand for quality human resources built through a strong academic and learning environment like CME platforms.

New players in the continuing medical education market are focusing on developing an innovative platform for the CME providing to the participants to remain competitive. They are investing extensively in various development activities to enhance their methods of delivering the CME and evaluating their outcomes among the physicians. New methods assist vendors in expanding their presence, enhancing market growth, and sustaining their position in the global market. Vendors are increasingly focusing on launching innovative delivery methods to penetrate and tap the large growth potential of the continuing medical education market.