Continuing education for psychiatrists: report on Canadian Psychiatric Association questionnaire

This report on the CPA Questionnaire on Continuing Education represents the answers of a sample of 485 of the 1,360 certified psychiatrists belonging to the Association. A total of 72.6% of the sample lived in urban centres with populations greater than 200,000; 28.9% worked in solo practice, but only 7.4% worked in settings where no other psychiatrists were present. The amount of time spent in continuing education activities was found to vary inversely with the distance that had to be travelled to major educational centres. Nevertheless, there were no psychiatrists that did not partake in some continuing education activities. Ninety-three percent read journals, 99% went to meetings, and 96% used consultation with other psychiatrists; 99% stated that these activities were useful. The favourite methods were reading and consultation. Eighty percent of the sample spent more than 41 hours per month in continuing education activities. Sixty-five percent stated that they would like a voluntary credit award system instituted. It is concluded that Canadian psychiatrists do spend a great deal of time in continuing education activities and believe that this is of value to their professional work.