The Journal of continuing education in the health professions
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Criteria for maintenance of certification (MOC) emphasize the importance of competencies such as communication, professionalism, systems-based care, and practice performance in addition to medical knowledge. Success of this new competency paradigm is dependent on physicians' willingness to engage in activities that focus on less traditional competencies. We undertook this analysis to determine whether physicians' preferences for CME are barriers to participation in innovative programs. ⋯ Physicians who participate in CME select educational opportunities that appeal to them. There is little attraction to competency-based educational activities despite their requirement for MOC. The apparent disparity between the instructional methods a learner prefers and those that are the most effective in changing physician behavior may represent a barrier to participating in more innovative CME offerings and instructional methods. These findings are important for medical educators and CME program planners developing programs that integrate studied and effective educational methods into CME programs that are attractive to physicians.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2007
The need for specialty curricula based on core competencies: a white paper of the Conjoint Committee on Continuing Medical Education.
At present there is no curriculum to guide physician lifelong learning in a prescribed, deliberate manner. The Conjoint Committee on Continuing Medical Education, a group representing 16 major stakeholder organizations in continuing medical education, recommends that each specialty society and corresponding board reach consensus on the competencies expected of physicians in that specialty. Experts in a specialty will define content-based core competencies in the areas of patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. ⋯ The American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Board of Ophthalmology already have implemented this recommendation. Their work is reported as a model for further development. A competency-based curriculum framework offers a foundation for continuing medical education in diverse practice settings and provider organizations.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2007
ReviewA systematic review of evaluation in formal continuing medical education.
Physicians spend a considerable amount of time in Continuing Medical Education (CME) to maintain their medical licenses. CME evaluation studies vary greatly in evaluation methods, levels of evaluation, and length of follow-up. Standards for CME evaluation are needed to enable comparison among different studies and to detect factors influencing CME evaluation. ⋯ A gold standard for evaluating the effectiveness of CME would include assessment of all 4 levels of evaluation. A valid, reliable, and adaptable CME evaluation questionnaire addressing variables in the second level is needed to allow comparison of effectiveness across CME interventions. A minimum 1-year postintervention follow-up period may also be indicated to investigate the sustainability of intervention outcomes.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2007
Influence of remedial professional development programs for poorly performing physicians.
The Collège des Médecins du Québec (CMQ) offers an individualized remedial professional development program to help physicians overcome selected clinical shortcomings. To measure the influence of the remedial professional development program, physicians who completed the program between 1993 and 2004 and who were assessed by peer review during a 2-year period preceding or following the remedial activities were tracked. ⋯ Participation in a CMQ remedial professional development program can result in improved clinical performance, as assessed through peer review.
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J Contin Educ Health Prof · Jan 2007
The asthma dialogues: a model of interactive education for skills.
A gap exists between asthma guidelines and actual care delivered. We developed an educational intervention using simulated physician-patient encounters as part of a project to improve asthma management by community-based primary care providers. We hypothesized that this type of skills-based interactive training would improve learners' care choices for simulated patients after training compared with their choices before training. ⋯ This method of training resulted in learners showing a measurable improvement in their intent to follow guidelines as applied to simulated patients. An evaluation addressing actual patient outcomes will need to be done.