Online CME course proves that it has lasting impact
Researchers track how much physicians actually learned and retained in the domestic violence course.
By Myrle Croasdale, amednews staff. Dec. 26, 2005.
Most physicians take continuing medical education courses, but whether they take what they've learned and apply it in their practices is usually up for grabs.
CME leaders are trying to solve this puzzle by developing tools to track physician learning, discover whether they take their new knowledge into the office and determine if doctors improve patient outcomes by applying the new skills.
To support such efforts, the Alliance for CME, an international organization of CME providers, recently recognized Medical Directions of Tucson, Ariz., naming the company the winner of the 2005 William Campbell Felch/Wyeth Award for Research in CME.
Medical Directions created an online CME course covering domestic violence, then developed a self-assessment tool to gauge the course's effectiveness. "We found at six months and 12 months out [after taking the CME course] that there were long-term positive changes in almost all measures," said John Harris, MD, Medical Direction's president.
Those results are based on answers from 52 physicians from small-office practices after they took the online course that includes 17 interactive case studies, handouts and forms physicians can download to use in their practices and a database on states' domestic violence reporting requirements.
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