Continuing education of obstetricians and gynecologists in fertility management

One of the current fundamental problems in medicine is the massive quantity of new information that continues to develop and the requirement for the application of these data to good patient care. New techniques of merit need to be placed rapidly in the patient-care arena and the time lag between the steps from laboratory to clinic minimized. One approach to the achievement of the goal in fertility management is described in the following report; namely, a summary of the results of an education program in fertility management established in November, 1972, for the continued education of obstetricians and gynecologists from "developing countries". This report reviews the experience and data derived from the first 95 physicians completing a course in population dynamics. An estimate of the factual knowledge that these individual physicians possessed at the beginning of the course is compared with an estimate of the knowledge acquired within the 4 week training program. In a similar manner, an important part of this survey was a study of the attitudes of the clinical fellows in the areas of sex education, contraception, sterilization, and abortion. The results of this study suggest that newly developed techniques in clinical medicine may be taught to a specific and highly motivated group in an effective and efficient manner. The initial interest and response of physicians for admission to this program have demonstrated the need for the development of more similar educational programs.