Bedside clinics in neurology. An alternate format for the one-day course in continuing medical education

Five one-day workshops entitled "Bedside Clinics in Neurology" were conducted and evaluated at the annual American Medical Association conventions during the past four years. A problem-based, student-centered, small-group approach using simulated patient problems was used as a means of avoiding the educational assumptions made by the more conventional teacher-centered lecture-discussion format. The response by participants in an immediate evaluation and six-month follow-up of the last two workshops indicated that (1) this format was stimulating, (2) the workshop would be attended again if conducted in a different topic, (3) the participants would pay a mean cost of $70, and (4) the workshop provided practical and relevant information for their day-to-day practice situation. Further evaluation to assess the educational effectiveness of this format is being planned.