Evaluation of a sexually transmitted diseases training program

To determine whether attendance at a sexually transmitted disease (STD) training course produces an immediate and/or sustained gain in knowledge and to assess whether practitioners who might benefit most from such training could be identified easily, 55 practitioners were given one or more standardized written examinations before, immediately after, and four to 15 months after attendance at one of eight intensive one- or two-week training sessions. All practitioners (nine physicians and 46 physician extenders) increased their clinical knowledge of STDs, and most retained this knowledge over a four- to 15-month follow-up period (P less than 0.001). Practitioners with the lowest scores before the course had the least professional training, graduated from professional schools prior to 1965, had less than two years of work experience in STDs, and examined the fewest patients per day (P = 0.028). A lower precourse score was predictive of significant improvement on the postcourse test (P less than 0.001). Our results show that attendance at an STD training course produces both an immediate and a sustained gain in knowledge and indicates that precourse test scores and practitioner characteristics can be useful in identification of practitioners most in need of and most likely to benefit from STD clinical training.