Increasing the satisfaction of general practitioners with continuing medical education programs: A method for quality improvement through increasing teacher-learner interaction

A quality improvement program for CME for 18 general practitioners in the Tel Aviv region was designed as a result of dissatisfaction with traditional CME activities. A two-step strategy for change was developed. The CME participants first selected the study topics relevant to them from a needs assessment and prepared background material on the topics. In the second step, specialist teachers were invited to answer questions arising from the preparation of selected topics. Satisfaction with the traditional lecture program and the new participatory program were assessed by a questionnaire. The quality criteria included the relevance, importance and applicability of the CME topic chosen to the participant's practice, the clarity of the presentation and the effective use of teaching aids by the lecturer and the potential of the lecturer to serve as a consultant to the participant.The participatory model of CME significantly increased satisfaction with relevance, applicability and interest in CME topics compared to the traditional lecture format.Increased learner participation in the selection and preparation of CME topics, and increased interaction between CME teachers and learners results in increased satisfaction with teaching programs. Future study of the effect of this model on physician performance is required.General practitioners in many settings rely heavily on specialist-based continuing medical education (CME) methods. These include direct consultation with experts, reviews in journal and textbooks, and formal continuing education activities. [1-3] A traditional hierarchical relationship results in a one-way transfer of knowledge from specialists to general practitioners [4]. However general practitioners may wish to control their own educational agenda and to inform specialists of their learning needs. Learning centered on clinical cases is likely to be of greater use to family physicians than formal lectures [5]. Some specialists may regard lectures as the p