Needs Assessment of Continuing Medical Education for General Physicians: The Musculoskeletal Signs and Diseases

Introduction: Educational needs assessment in continuing medical education programs can provide the opportunity for optimum use of resources. The aim of this study was to determine the viewpoints of general physicians about their educational needs in the continuing education courses about encountering with musculoskeletal signs and diseases. Methods: This descriptive survey study was performed in 2013 in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The participants were a number of 150 general physicians participating in the continuing education courses who were selected through convenient sampling. The data collection tool was a self-tailored questionnaire to perform needs assessment. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed. To prioritize the diseases and their symptoms, the frequency of encountering and educational needs were used. The collected data were analyzed through non-parametric statistics and cross tabulation. Results: In this study 86 questionnaires were analyzed (57 percent response). From the viewpoints of general physicians, the maximum encountering was Joint Pain sign (88.4%). The lowest rates of encountering were Raynaud's Phenomena sign (%66.3) and Scleroderma Disease (%90.7). The Education was claimed to be the most needed for Back Pain (%72.1) and Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease (%69.7), and the least needed for Raynaud's Phenomena (%20.9) and Scleroderma Disease (%30.2). Conclusion: From the general physicians’ viewpoints, Lower Back Pain and Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease were the most needed for education. This can partly be due to the prevalence of these cases. Therefore, the results of this needs assessment may enable executives to plan appropriate continuing medical education with regard to the participants’ needs.