AN INNOVATIVE CME PROGRAM IN CARDIOLOGY FOR PRIMARY-CARE PRACTITIONERS

The authors describe an innovative continuing medical education (CME) program they developed to improve the ability of community practitione rs to manage common cardiology problems. The program includes an objec tive structural clinical examination (OSCE) with nine standardized pat ient (SP) stations. The SPs are trained to use checklists to assess th e examinees' clinical skills, and to enter the checklist data directly into computers located within each of the examining rooms. Checklists cover the participants' knowledge of cardiology, and their interviewi ng, physical-examination, and counseling skills. The computer immediat ely generates detailed individual reports, which include a skills repo rt, reflecting performance of core skills across all nine stations wit h group means for comparison, and an omissions report, listing items m issed in each case for each participant and, again, comparing the resu lts with group means. Participants review and discuss their performanc es and then discuss identified learning issues with a cardiologist. Th e cardiologist also reviews state-of the-art diagnosis and treatment f or the cases presented in the OSCE. Participants have reported having a high regard for the program and have indicated that the program has left them better prepared to deal with clinical cardiology issues.