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Defining quality criteria for online continuing medical education modules using modified nominal group technique
S E D Shortt1, Jean-Marc Guillemette, Anne Marie Duncan
1Knowledge Transfer & Practice Policy, Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa, ON, Canada. sam.shortt@cma.ca
The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions
|December 21, 2010
Summary
Defining quality criteria for online continuing medical education (CME) is crucial. Experts identified 10 essential criteria for accredited online CME modules, emphasizing needs-based, evidence-based, and interactive content.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Digital Health
- Quality Improvement
Background:
- Physician continuing education increasingly utilizes online platforms.
- There is a growing need to establish quality standards for accredited online medical modules.
- Accredited online continuing medical education (CME) is rapidly expanding.
Purpose of the Study:
- To define essential quality criteria for accredited online CME modules.
- To achieve consensus among experts on key attributes of high-quality online learning for physicians.
- To compare expert-defined criteria with practitioner perspectives.
Main Methods:
- A Modified Nominal Group Technique (MNGT) consensus process was employed.
- Canadian CME directors and academic researchers participated.
- Expert rankings were compared against a survey of Canadian Medical Association (CMA) members.
Main Results:
- Experts identified 10 primary quality criteria for online CME modules.
- Key criteria include being needs-based, clinical, evidence-based, interactive, facilitating practice change, accessible for review, and having robust evaluation.
- Practitioners showed less consensus on criteria and did not prioritize assessing performance change.
Conclusions:
- Ten quality criteria for accredited online CME modules were identified by Canadian experts.
- A discrepancy exists between expert recommendations and practitioner preferences regarding the assessment of change.
- Further research is needed to understand physician preference for traditional CME formats over practice-change documentation.
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