The research in CME sessions at SACME s fall meeting were great, albeit a little hurried as the presenters tried to get through some pretty nuanced materials in the 10 minutes each was allotted.
Here s what I got from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada s Craig Campbell s presentation on the variation in how eight specialties participated in the Royal College s maintenance of certification program:
This study, a work in progress, involved looking at seven groups of specialties and subspecialties (surgery, medicine, laboratory medicine, pediatrics, psychiatry, radiology, and community medicine) who participated in the Royal College s maintenance of certification program in 2002 and 2003. The point was to compare the influence of the size of the community they practice in, gender, year they graduated from medical school, and university affiliation to the credits earned in each year in the six sections of CPD options. These sections were include accredited group learning activities, non-accredited group learning activities, self-assessment programs, structured learning projects, practice review, and scholarly activities.
Overall, he concluded that demographics does influence the pattern of participation in CPD, albeit in different ways. For example, pediatricians showed to have less participation in group CME activities and were more active in self-assessment programs. Psychiatrists weren t all that active in group CME or self-assessment, but they liked their structured learning projects. Pathologists showed increased use of self-assessment programs, and surgical specialties used more practice review than did medical specialties.
The population of the area in which the docs practice also made a difference. Specialists in large population centers used less self-assessment, while those in more rural areas liked self-directed learning.
So, one more bit of evidence that one size of CME does not fit all, and that providers need to take the preferences of their participants in mind.
SACME members can download the Powerpoint with all the data at the SACME Web site. The rest of us, unfortunately, are out of luck.
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