Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, U.S..
Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First St SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, U.S.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Oct 14;24(1):1142. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-06046-1.
The worldwide market for continuing medical education (CME) was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which precipitated an increase in web-based CME course attendance. Virtual education methods may be effective for engaging learners and changing behaviors. However, more information is needed about physician preferences for in-person vs. livestreamed CME courses in the postpandemic era. Because of the paucity of data regarding this topic, the current study was designed to evaluate CME participant characteristics, preferences, engagement, and satisfaction with traditional in-person vs. virtual educational methods.
A cross-sectional study was performed of attendees of two large internal medicine CME courses held in 2021. Both CME courses were offered via in-person and livestream options, and were taught by Mayo Clinic content experts. Participants, who consisted of practicing physicians seeking CME, completed a 41-question survey after CME course completion. Statistical comparisons were performed by using Fisher exact tests for all survey items, except for those with ordinal response sets, which were compared with Cochran-Armitage trend tests.
A total of 146 participants completed the survey (response rate, 30.2%). Among the 77 respondents who attended in-person courses, the most frequent reasons indicated were the opportunity to travel (66%) and collaboration/networking with others (25%). Among the 68 respondents who attended the livestream courses, the most frequent reasons indicated included COVID-19-related concerns (65%), convenience (46%), and travel costs (34%). The percentage of respondents who indicated that they would choose the same mode of attendance if given the option again was higher for those who attended in person than for those who attended via livestream (91% vs. 65%, P < .001).
These data suggest that in-person course offerings will continue to be a preferred learning method for some physicians. However, most respondents who attended virtually preferred that method. Therefore, hybrid CME models offering both in-person and virtual options may be most beneficial for meeting the needs of all CME learners.
全球继续医学教育（CME）市场受到 COVID-19 大流行的严重影响，这促使网络 CME 课程的参与度增加。虚拟教育方法可能对吸引学习者和改变行为有效。然而，在后大流行时代，我们需要更多关于医生对面对面与直播 CME 课程偏好的信息。由于关于这个主题的数据很少，因此本研究旨在评估 CME 参与者的特征、偏好、参与度以及对传统面对面与虚拟教育方法的满意度。
对 2021 年举办的两次大型内科 CME 课程的参与者进行了横断面研究。这两个 CME 课程都提供了面对面和直播两种选择，并且由 Mayo 诊所的内容专家授课。参与者由寻求 CME 的执业医生组成，在 CME 课程结束后完成了 41 个问题的调查。除了那些具有有序反应集的调查项目外，所有调查项目都使用 Fisher 精确检验进行了统计比较，对于那些具有有序反应集的调查项目，则使用 Cochran-Armitage 趋势检验进行了比较。
共有 146 名参与者完成了调查（应答率为 30.2%）。在参加面对面课程的 77 名受访者中，最常提到的原因是有机会旅行（66%）和与他人合作/建立联系（25%）。在参加直播课程的 68 名受访者中，最常提到的原因包括与 COVID-19 相关的担忧（65%）、方便（46%）和旅行费用（34%）。如果有选择的机会，选择相同的参会模式的受访者比例在参加面对面课程的参与者中高于参加直播课程的参与者（91%比 65%，P < .001）。
这些数据表明，面对面的课程将继续成为一些医生首选的学习方法。然而，大多数参加虚拟课程的受访者更喜欢这种方式。因此，提供面对面和虚拟选择的混合 CME 模式可能最有利于满足所有 CME 学习者的需求。
