Effectiveness of continuing medical education considering participant's idea in Iran University

To examine the satisfaction and perception of participants with the current CME programme in Iran and eventually to re-design the programme accordingly.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study the attitude of participants in 28 CME programmes of Iran University, Iran, implemented between 2007 and 2009 were evaluated. A questionnaire was prepared (reliability coefficient of Cronbach's alpha = 0.97) consisting of seven main questions (Likert scale) related to attitude of participants about the quality of programme's content, lecturer teaching skills and participant's learning and satisfaction; three open questions about weaknesses and strengths of the programmes and their recommendations about it; gender, type and duration of different programme. Our participants (physicians, nurses, midwives, health care providers, dentists, clinical laboratorists and nutritionist) completed the questionnaire at the end of their CME programmes.

According to total score of the questions > or = 28, only 47.7% believed that the CME programme was effective. Workshops were more effective than seminar sessions (61.5% vs 30.1%, p < 0.001). Total score of participant's attitude was significantly higher in male in comparison with female (24.6 +/- 0.48 vs 22.9 +/- 0.54, p = 0.02) and also significantly higher for workshops than seminars (28.2 +/- 0.21 vs 24.3 +/- 0.31, p < 0.001). Effective programmes (total score > or = 28) had significantly lower duration (18.1 +/- 0.39 vs 19.1 +/- 0.34 hours, p = 0.044).

While short course workshops are preferred in our community, effective, dynamic, and interactive educational methods in CME programme should be considered in this area as well.