Continuing education for health care professionals: a state of the art review

This article presents an analysis of the literature on three major components affecting continuing education for health care professionals: the goals of continuing education, the design of programs, and the outcomes of efforts. Variations in emphasis on the goals from individuals representing differing role perspectives were evident. Frequently cited goals did not always correspond to the reasons professionals attend continuing education. Although a fairly clear description of desirable features of design was provided, evidence indicating that these features were capable of leading to the desired results of continuing education was lacking. Most studies supported the contention that gains in knowledge, skills, or attitudes occur as a result of continuing education. Although several studies demonstrated changes in performance as outcomes of continuing education, most used self-reports and failed to use comparison groups. Based on the analysis of the literature, specific recommendations are provided.