Primary care physicians and their information-seeking behaviour.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate primary care physicians' continuing medical education (CME) and their information-seeking behaviour and to compare it with that of hospital doctors

DESIGN

Postal survey of Norwegian physicians.

SUBJECTS

1276 physicians (response rate 78%), 283 primary care physicians, 741 hospital doctors.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Self-perceived ability to cope with medical knowledge and self-reported CME activities.

RESULTS

Two out of three doctors thought they could cope with the increasing flow of medical information. Courses, meetings and congresses were considered the most important CME activities. Primary care physicians spent less than 3 hours per week on medical reading, compared with more than 4.5 hours among hospital doctors; 59% of primary care physicians had access to the Internet compared with 76% among hospital doctors. Time spent on medical reading and formalized courses decreased from 1993 to 1999 for all groups of physicians.

CONCLUSION

Primary care physicians rely on several information sources in their professional updating. They pay less attention to informal ways of learning than their hospital colleagues do.