Improving the learning needs survey by using four approaches

Area of Science:

• Continuing Medical Education
• General Practice Research
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Continuing education programs for healthcare professionals rely on learning needs analyses.
• Traditional questionnaires for these analyses often lack validity, relevance, breadth, and detail.
• This study evaluated a novel questionnaire approach for assessing general practitioners' learning needs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a new questionnaire in identifying learning needs among general practitioners.
• To compare different questioning strategies within the questionnaire.
• To inform the planning of continuing education programs for general practitioners.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire with 104 topics was administered to approximately 1762 general practitioners.
• The questionnaire employed open-ended questions and sought specific information on desired learning topics.
• Distribution was facilitated by The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and regional divisions.

Main Results:

• A response rate of 33% (578 responses) was achieved.
• Different survey strategies revealed distinct learning needs.
• Top-ranked learning topics included dermatology, complementary medicine, psychiatry, and business/practice management.

Conclusions:

• The survey successfully identified broad areas of learning needs for general practitioners.
• Despite a low response rate, the findings offer valuable insights for educational planning.
• The questionnaire approach proved effective in gathering relevant information on professional development priorities.