Twelve tips for effective short course design.

Short courses are commonly used by physicians to stay up-to-date and acquire new skills for practice. Unfortunately, many short courses are not designed to maximize their impact on practice as they fail to acknowledge how people learn and change. Designers of effective short course planning should pay attention to writing outcomes based objectives; conducting needs assessments; determining the optimal content, resources, speakers and format; preparing ancillary materials (handouts and pre- and post-course assessments); and preparing speakers and evaluation. This paper discusses how each of the components of the curriculum design can be used to enhance the learning experience and obtain the desired course outcomes.