General practitioners and online continuing medical education - which factors influence its use?

Although several online continuing medical education (CME) offers exist, the utilization of these by physicians is still low. In this study, we aimed to investigate the attitude towards and use of the Internet and online CME in German general practitioners (GPs) and to identify potential starting points to increase the use of online CME.

In June 2006, a standardized 6-page questionnaire with 27 questions on the topic "Internet and online continuing education" was sent to all general practitioners in 6 districts (n=1304) of South Baden and South Württemberg in Germany. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and exploratory regression analyses were performed to identify predictors of online CME usage. Furthermore, selected barriers were investigated in detail.

A total of 351 questionnaires were sent back, of which 349 could be included in the analysis (27% response rate). The sample is representative of the population contacted with respect to gender and qualifications. Univariate analyses showed that users of online CME were two years younger than non-users on average. Users spent two hours more on the Internet per week than non-users, and had been using the Internet for one year longer. Finally, users had better Internet skills, more often had previous experiences with online CME, and assessed the effectiveness of online CME to be higher and perceived fewer problems than non-users.

Measures to implement and increase the use of online CME can be aimed at different levels. The most important starting points are likely to be offering GPs the possibility to gain experience with online CME and improving their attitudes towards online CME. But for some physician populations, e.g. elderly or physicians with less Internet experience, e-learning might be an inferior option in comparison to traditional CME.