Effect of a two-day extensive continuing medical education course on participants’ knowledge of clinical and operative urology

Özet

Objective: Continuing Medical Education (CME) is an established method for facilitating the lifelonglearning and developing knowledge, skills and attitudes to ensure delivery of a medical care which is up-todate, evidence based, safe and patient-centered. An extensive 2 day urology course was conducted to meetthe needs of learners. The purpose of the current study was to measure the effect of this CME activity onthe knowledge of the participants.Material and methods: This quasi-experimental, single group pre-, and post-test study measured the gainin learning as a result of the two-day extensive CME course conducted by the section of Urology at Department of Surgery, the Aga Khan University, Karachi- Pakistan. Gain in knowledge, defined as the differencebetween the pre-test and the post-test scores, was taken as a measure of course effectiveness. The test comprised of 40 one-best type carefully constructed multiple choice questions (MCQs). Item analyses were alsoperformed.Results: Forty-five out of a total of 70 participants from within and outside the city completed both preand post-tests and were included in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 33.3+6.7 years. Of these 45participants, 68.9% (n=31) of them were trainees at different levels. Mean gain in knowledge was 12.7±6.8%(p<0.01; 95% CI: 4.17-5.79). Mean test scores improved significantly from 37.8±11.3% to 50.3±10.8%. Difference in pre and post scores due to age, gender, practice type or years since start of training was not significant. The reliability of the test using Cronbach’s α was 0.634.Conclusion: CME sessions when designed and delivered carefully are effective means of increasing theknowledge significantly. Pre- and post-test is a reliable and valid strategy to measure gain in participants'knowledge.