CME AND THE ROLE OF THE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL-COLLEGE-OF-PHYSICIANS OFLONDON

Aim: To assess (a) the views of Members and Fellows of the College on the role of reading general medical journals in continuing medical edu cation (CME); Ib) the place of the Journal of the Royal College of Phy sicians of London (JRCPL) in relation to seven other general medical j ournals; (c) the possible need For change in the content of the JRCPL and the demand for a systematic series of articles designed specifical ly for CME; (d) the extent of home ownership and use of computers and of readers' readiness for interactive teaching and electronic books an d journals. Method: Distribution of a questionnaire to all Fellows and Collegiate members of the College; mailed with the JRCPL in May 1995. Result: Responses were receive of from 2,600 (26.4% home recipients a nd 8.4% overseas recipients). Journal reading was rated the most impor tant form of CME. All eight journals listed play a part in CME, the th ree weekly journals playing the most prominent role. There was strong suppose for the introduction of a series of articles covering topics s ystematically as part of CME. Seventy-six per cent of respondents own a home computer and 40% of these have either a CD-ROM drive or full mu ltimedia facilities. Most use their computers mainly as word-processor s and few have access to the Internet or E-mail.