Participation of French hospital physicians to continuing medical education events: a survey with 300 physicians to assess duration, methods, financing, and needs.

Introduction: Little data on the educational needs and practices of French hospital physicians have been obtained through surveys. Given that continuing medical education (CME) information is now available on http://www.cnfmc.fr and providers are accredited, we investigated CME practices and knowledge of the CME system with the use of a representative sample of hospital physicians.

Methods: A questionnaire was prepared during 2 work sessions organized by TNS Healthcare Sofres in July 2007. A sample of 300 physicians was selected to represent hospital physicians throughout 5 main regions and hospital types. Telephone numbers were dialed automatically in order to meet quota objectives. Questionnaires were administered by telephone between August 30 and September 7, 2007 by trained operators.

Results: Among the 300 interviewed physicians, 218 (73%) were from general or specialized hospitals and 82 (27%) were from university hospitals. They were located equally all over France. Their specialties were: medicine, 130 (43%); laboratory, 51 (17%); pharmacy, 45 (15%); surgery, 15 (5%); psychiatry, 9 (3%); and others, 49 (17%), including emergency and radiology. One hundred twenty-five of the physicians (42%) stated that they took part in continuing education programs for more than 10 days per year, 122 (41%) between 6 and 10 days per year, and 51 (17%) less than 5 days; 2 (<1%) did not answer. Two hundred fourteen of the physicians subscribed to either specialized or general medical journals; 86 (29%) did not subscribe to any journal. For live in-class events, approximately 65% of the educational, travel, and lodging expenses were paid for by physicians and hospitals. The pharmaceutical industry paid for 25% of these expenses. In response to the question "Did you participate in a performance improvement program in your hospital?", 75 (25%) said that they had (16% for the 82 physicians in university hospitals, and 29% for the 211 physicians in general hospitals), 210 (70%) said that they had not, including the 134 (45% of the 300) who said that it was scheduled, and 15 (5%) did not answer. Seminars were preferred for continuing education programs, and interactive workshops and e-learning methods were requested for the future. Among the 300 physicians, 246 (82%) expressed difficulties following up on CME events, and 54 (18%) had no difficulty with their education.

Discussion: This telephone survey of 300 hospital physicians showed that although they took part in many educational programs, they had organizational, personal, and financial issues. E-learning could make it easier for physicians to continue their education.