Introduction

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a serious disease that affects at least 67 million people worldwide. Despite its prevalence and the significant disability it causes, medical education on ME/CFS remains extremely limited. In many countries, there is no formal training for healthcare professionals, leaving patients to face a system that is often unprepared to diagnose or support them. The World ME Alliance Medical Education Hub aims to address this gap by directing health professionals to high-quality, reliable, and evidence-based resources.

By curating and signposting trusted materials, the Hub aims to support healthcare professionals, students, researchers, policymakers, and others in improving understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and the lived experience of ME/CFS. Recognising the significant gaps in education around Severe ME and the experiences of people from marginalised identities, the Hub seeks to include resources relevant to as many communities as possible. This approach helps ensure that education on ME/CFS is accurate, respectful, and aligned with current knowledge of the disease, ultimately contributing to better outcomes for people living with ME/CFS globally.

Below, we lay out our criteria for assessing the resources that will form the Medical Education Hub.

Guiding Principles

  1. Materials should help improve understanding, diagnosis, care and treatment, and the lived experience of ME/CFS. They need to be useful for the people who will use them, whether that’s clinicians, patients, carers, researchers, or policymakers.
  2. Resources should come from trusted and accountable sources, and be based on the best evidence available.
  3. Trusted sources are national and international health authorities, government health departments and agencies, academic and research institutions, professional medical associations, peer-reviewed journals, and some recognised patient advocacy organisations and non-governmental organisations (groups with strong governance, transparency, and meaningful involvement of people with ME/CFS).
  4. Resources must respect people with ME/CFS, avoid stigma, and not promote harmful or unproven treatments.
  5. Ideally, resources should have been published or updated in the last 5–10 years, unless they are landmark documents that are still important.
  6. Materials should all focus on ME/CFS, but may also address related comorbidities or overlapping conditions.
  7. The authors, the organisation behind the work, and any funding or conflicts of interest should be clearly shown.
  8. Paywalled materials will be less prominently displayed than those available to all, where assessment by the below criteria has been possible. 
  9. All included resources will be periodically reviewed to ensure they still meet our criteria. 
  10. These principles and criteria may be reviewed and updated at the discretion of the World ME Alliance Medical Education Working Group, with oversight from the Strategic Leadership Board.

Inclusion Criteria

  1. Is a clinical guide or educational course, aimed at any healthcare professionals and/or students. This may evolve on reflection of the subgroup to include a wider range of resources. 
  2. Core focus is ME/CFS.
  3. Produced by a trusted source, as defined in our guiding principles.
  4. Reflects current understanding of ME/CFS as a biomedical disease.
  5. Consistent with the World ME Alliance’s mission and principles.
  6. Clearly dated and attributable to identifiable authors/organisations.

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Commercial or Promotional Materials
    Materials that are primarily designed to promote a commercial product, service, or organisation, including direct advertising of goods or services for sale.
    • Permitted: Acknowledgement of funding or support (e.g. “This event is supported by an unrestricted grant from [organisation]”) and inclusion of logos for transparency.
    • Not permitted: Overt advertising, product endorsements, promotional logos beyond acknowledgements, or materials designed to market products, drugs or services beyond the scope of the educational content.
  2. Outdated or Harmful Approaches
    Resources that promote outdated or disproven interventions, or approaches shown to cause harm (e.g. graded exercise therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy or brain retraining as curative treatment for ME/CFS). Materials older than 10 years will be excluded unless they remain clinically or historically relevant and are clearly contextualised.
  3. Stigmatising, Dismissive, or Inaccurate Language
    Excludes resources containing language that is discriminatory, dismissive of lived experience, or inconsistent with current evidence and best practice.
    • Recognises that terminology will vary across cultures and translations; efforts will be made to align with widely accepted respectful terminology while accepting variations (e.g. “person living with a disability” and “disabled person”).

Review Processes 

  1. Initial Review
    All proposed resources will undergo an initial review by the Medical Education Working Group. Resources must meet all inclusion criteria and not meet any exclusion criteria to be accepted.
  2. Annual Review
    Accepted resources will be reviewed at least once per year to ensure they continue to meet inclusion and exclusion criteria.
  3. Review Checklist
    A standard checklist of inclusion and exclusion criteria will be developed and used for both initial and annual reviews. This will include the date and version of the resource for currency.
  4. Documentation
    All review decisions will be documented, including the date of review, reviewer names, and any actions taken (e.g. updating, removing, or archiving resources).

Hosting & Attribution

  • When translations are hosted directly on the World ME Alliance website, permission from the original authors will be obtained and documented. Where translations are linked to, the translating organisation must have obtained permission to undertake the translation.
  • All works must be clearly attributed with authors, the organisation behind the work, and any funding or conflicts of interest shown.
  • Paywalled materials – any materials only accessible with payment, subscription, or special access will be clearly marked as paywalled. 
  • Documents over 10 years old will be clearly marked with their publication date to indicate their age and context.

Disclaimers

Inclusion of a resource in the Medical Education Hub does not imply endorsement of every detail contained within that resource. Inclusion means the resource has been assessed and meets the World ME Alliance’s inclusion criteria.

We strive to ensure all resources are accurate, respectful, and relevant. However, if you have concerns about the content of any resource signposted on this Hub, please contact us through our contact page: https://worldmealliance.org/contact-us/

Last updated: 28 April 2026