Barriers to Use Electronic Courses of Continuing Medical Education: A Survey in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: The rapid development of science and technology has endowed a fresh significance to continuing education as its necessity has become undeniable. Considering the significance of keeping physicians’ knowledge up-to-date and their limited free time to participate in their classes on the other hand, e-learning could be a useful option to train these people. The main objective of this study is to identify main factors which deter these physicians to participate in e-learning courses of continuing medical education in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed during summer 2011 in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Study population included 378 physicians subject to continuing medical education which were selected through stratified sampling method. Data gathering tool was a reliable and valid questionnaire made by researcher. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used for data analysis. Results: Considering the weighted mean achieved, contextual issues (2.71±.63) showed the highest and personal issues (2.15±.70) and attitudinal issues (1.98±.64)( out of 4) showed the lowest deterrence rate respectively. Personal concerns of individuals formerly participated in e-learning courses were lower than that of individuals who didn’t participate beforehand (p<0.01, F=6.51). The scores attributed to each of these three fields of personal, contextual, and attitudinal problems to attend e-learning courses were higher for men compared to woman (f=86.1, p<0.01). Conclusion: Contextual problems were the most important deterring factor among community of continuing medical education to participate in e-learning courses.