Abstract
While traditional continuing medical education (CME) courses increase participants’ knowledge, they have minimal impact on the more relevant end points of physician behavior and patient outcomes. The interactive potential of online CME and its flexibility in time and place offer potential improvements over traditional CME. However, more emphasis should be placed on continuing education that occurs when clinicians search for answers to questions that arise in clinical practice, instead of that which occurs at an arbitrary time designated for CME. The use of learning portfolios and informationists can be integrated with self-directed CME to help foster a culture of lifelong learning.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ToInspire.com. Quotes for the mind & soul. Available at: http://www.toinspire.com/searchdb.asp. Accessed March 27, 2004.
Davis D, O’Brien MA, Freemantle N, Wolf FM, Mazmanian P, Taylor-Vaisey A. Impact of formal continuing medical education: do conferences, workshops, rounds, and other traditional continuing education activities change physician behavior or health care outcomes? JAMA. 1999;282:867–74.
Bero LA, Grilli R, Grimshaw JM, Harvey E, Oxman AD, Thomson MA. Closing the gap between research and practice: an overview of systematic reviews of interventions to promote the implementation of research findings. The Cochrane Effective Practice and Organization of Care Review Group. BMJ. 1998;317:465–8.
Cantillon P, Jones R. Does continuing medical education in general practice make a difference? BMJ. 1999;318:1276–9.
ACCME. Frequently asked questions. Available at: http://www.accme.org/faq/faq_essential_areas.asp. Accessed April 4, 2004.
Wiecha J, Barrie N. Collaborative online learning: a new approach to distance CME. Acad Med. 2002;77:928–9.
Zimitat C. Designing effective on-line continuing medical education. Med Teach. 2001;23:117–22.
Sklar B. Online CME update, January 2004. Available at: http://www.cmelist.com/slideshows/. Accessed April 4, 2004.
Parboosingh IJ. Learning portfolios: potential to assist health professionals with self-directed learning. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 1996;16:75–81.
Wilkinson TJ, Challis M, Hobma SO, et al. The use of portfolios for assessment of the competence and performance of doctors in practice. Med Educ. 2002;36:918–24.
Slotnick HB. How doctors learn: physicians’ self-directed learning episodes. Acad Med. 1999;74:1106–17.
Mathers NJ, Challis MC, Howe AC, Field NJ. Portfolios in continuing medical education—effective and efficient? Med Educ. 1999;33:521–30.
Driessen E, van Tartwijk J, Vermunt JD, vander Vleuten CP. Use of portfolios in early undergraduate medical training. Med Teach. 2003;25:18–23.
Pearson DJ, Heywood P. Portfolio use in general practice vocational training: a survey of GP registrars. Med Educ. 2004;38:87–95.
Taggart K. CME easter, faster, in your home: new Royal College Web site allows physicians to log their CME hours for certification. The Medical Post. October 9, 2001. Available at: http://www.medicalpost.com/mpcontent/article.jsp?content=/content/EXTRACT/RAWART/3734/20B.html. Accessed April 4, 2004.
Dornan T, Carroll C, Parboosingh J. An electronic learning portfolio for reflective continuing professional development. Med Educ. 2002;36:767–9.
Campbell CM, Parboosingh JT, Gondocz ST, et al. Study of physicians’ use of a software program to create a portfolio of their self-directed learning. Acad Med. 1996;71(10 suppl):S49-S51.
Veenstra RJ. Clinical medical librarian impact on patient care: a one-year analysis. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1992;80:19–22.
Davidoff F, Florance V. The informationist: a new health profession? Ann Intern Med. 2000;132:996–8.
Clinical Informatics Consult Service. Available at: http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/biolib/services/cics.html. Accessed April 4, 2004.
Marshall JG. The impact of the hospital library on clinical decision making: the Rochester study. Bull Med Libr Assoc. 1992;80:169–78.
Casebeer L, Bennett N, Kristofco R, Carillo A, Centor R. Physician Internet medical information seeking and on-line continuing education use patterns. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2002;22:33–42.
American Medical Association. Excerpt from: State Medical Licensure Requirements and Statistics 2004. Available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/2640.html. Accessed April 4, 2004.
American Medical Association (AMA) selects UpToDate for its CME Internet pilot. Available at: http://www.uptodate.com/press_release/ama_cme.asp. Accessed April 4, 2004.
American Medical Association. Evolution of the AMA PRA credit system metric. CPPD Report. Fall 2002. Available at: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/40/fall02.pdf. Accessed April 4, 2004.
Skolar MD—CME credit. Available at: http://www.skolar.com/cmecredit.html. Accessed April 4, 2004.
The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada—Maintenance of Certification. Available at: http://repsc.medical.org/maintenance/programinfo/index.php. Accessed April 4, 2004.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Dr. Zeiger is supported by the Veterans Affairs Office of Academic Affairs, Health Services Research and Development Service, and the Office of the Chief Information Office. I wish to thank Eva Aagaard, MD, for her critical review of the manuscript.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zeiger, R.F. Toward continuous medical education. J GEN INTERN MED 20, 91–94 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30049.x
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1525-1497.2004.30049.x