Needs assessment in continuing medical education. Its feasibility and value in a seminar about skin cancer for...

To investigate the acceptability, feasibility and value of needs assessment in planning and conducting a seminar about skin cancer for general practitioners.

A self-administered questionnaire was developed to assess general practitioners' educational needs in skin cancer prevention, early detection and management. Registrants for a one-day interactive skin cancer seminar conducted by the NSW Cancer Council were each mailed this questionnaire. Responses received before the seminar were collated and discussed with resource persons involved in the seminar.

We achieved an 80% response rate to the pre-seminar needs assessment. Responses indicated gaps in knowledge, widespread differences in views about skin surveillance recommendations and a hierarchy of preferences for practical procedures. The seminar was modified, contributing to high levels of participant satisfaction with its educational content.

It is feasible to conduct a needs assessment in continuing medical education which achieves high response rates and provides vital information to resource persons about the educational needs of participants. Needs assessment holds promise as a strategy to assist general practitioners to identify their own goals for learning. Needs assessment as described here is necessary also to evaluate the outcome of continuing medical education. We recommend needs assessment as an integral part of educational programs for general practitioners although the time, planning and resources required to assess learning needs should not be underestimated.