Stephanie Dowling1,2, Jason Last3, Henry Finnegan4, Kieran O'Connor5, Walter Cullen3. 1. University College Dublin School of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, UCD, Dublin, Ireland. drstephanie.dowling@gmail.com. 2. Cappoquin Health Centre, West Waterford, Ireland. drstephanie.dowling@gmail.com. 3. University College Dublin School of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, UCD, Dublin, Ireland. 4. Irish College of General Practice National CME Director, Irish College of General Practice, Dublin, Ireland. 5. Public Health, St Canices Hospital, Kilkenny, Ireland.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Doctors' continuing medical educational and professional development (CME and CPD) needs are known to be strongly influenced by national and local contextual characteristics. A crucial step in the development of effective education and training programmes is the assessment of learner needs. METHODS: A national needs assessment was conducted among general practitioners (GPs) in the Republic of Ireland who attended continuing medical education small group learning meetings (CME-SGL) in late 2017. Doctors completed a self-administered anonymous three-page questionnaire which gathered demographic data and asked them to choose their 'top five' perceived educational needs from separate lists of topics for CME and CPD. RESULTS: There were 1669 responses (98% of monthly attendance). The topics most commonly identified as a priority for further CME were prescribing (updates/therapeutics), elderly medicine, management of common chronic conditions, dermatology, and patient safety/medical error. The most commonly selected CPD topics were applying evidence-based guidelines to practice, appraising performance/conducting practice audits, coping with change, and managing risk and legal medicine. There was no difference between urban and rural practice settings regarding the most commonly chosen topics in each category; however, more rural GPs selected pre-hospital/emergency care as one of their 'top five'. CONCLUSION: Our findings identified priority areas where CME and CPD for GPs in Ireland should focus. The topics selected may reflect the changing nature of general practice, which increasingly requires delivery of care to an ageing population with more multi-morbidity and chronic disease management, while trying to apply evidence-based medicine and consider patient safety issues. CME/CPD programmes need to adapt accordingly.
INTRODUCTION: Doctors' continuing medical educational and professional development (CME and CPD) needs are known to be strongly influenced by national and local contextual characteristics. A crucial step in the development of effective education and training programmes is the assessment of learner needs. METHODS: A national needs assessment was conducted among general practitioners (GPs) in the Republic of Ireland who attended continuing medical education small group learning meetings (CME-SGL) in late 2017. Doctors completed a self-administered anonymous three-page questionnaire which gathered demographic data and asked them to choose their 'top five' perceived educational needs from separate lists of topics for CME and CPD. RESULTS: There were 1669 responses (98% of monthly attendance). The topics most commonly identified as a priority for further CME were prescribing (updates/therapeutics), elderly medicine, management of common chronic conditions, dermatology, and patient safety/medical error. The most commonly selected CPD topics were applying evidence-based guidelines to practice, appraising performance/conducting practice audits, coping with change, and managing risk and legal medicine. There was no difference between urban and rural practice settings regarding the most commonly chosen topics in each category; however, more rural GPs selected pre-hospital/emergency care as one of their 'top five'. CONCLUSION: Our findings identified priority areas where CME and CPD for GPs in Ireland should focus. The topics selected may reflect the changing nature of general practice, which increasingly requires delivery of care to an ageing population with more multi-morbidity and chronic disease management, while trying to apply evidence-based medicine and consider patient safety issues. CME/CPD programmes need to adapt accordingly.
Entities:
Keywords:
Continuing medical education; Continuing professional development; Education needs; General practice
Authors: Vernon R Curran; David Keegan; Wanda Parsons; Greg Rideout; David Tannenbaum; Normand Dumoulin; Fran Kirby; Lisa J Fleet Journal: Can J Rural Med Date: 2007
Authors: Francisca Leiva-Fernández; Alba González-Hevilla; Juan Daniel Prados-Torres; Fuensanta Casas-Galán; Eva García-Domingo; Paula Ortiz-Suárez; Juan Antonio López-Rodríguez; Maria Victoria Pico-Soler Journal: J Multimorb Comorb Date: 2021-06-21