[Continuing education in primary care: the educational needs of its professionals]

To find professionals' suggestions for training contents, the value they place on various options, the difficulties they detect for attending activities and their preferences for time-table and format of courses.

Cross-sectional, descriptive study.

Primary Care Area 7 in Madrid.

Medical and office workers from the area (n=1,053).

An anonymous self-filled questionnaire.

39% replied (46% nurses; 42% administrative assistants, and 40% doctors). The subjects for courses most often requested by doctors were dermatology, minor surgery and radiology; by nurses, emergency, functional bandages and computer skills; and by administrative assistants, computers, management of health service delivery and Internet. The continuing education options valued most highly were courses/workshops in the area's continuing education programme, self-training sessions and rotations. The main difficulties for attending courses were the lack of budget for cover and time-tables outside working hours. 42% preferred mornings; and 35%, courses lasting more than 20 hours.

The training needs expressed by doctors and nurses are mainly clinical in content, whereas those of office staff are mainly computer-related. The most highly valued training options are the courses/workshops in the area's continuing education programme. The main difficulty for attending courses is the lack of cover for their job.