POSTGRADUATE EDUCATION - DOES IT IMPROVE THE KNOWLEDGE-BASE OF PRACTITIONERS WITH TIME

Purpose: We evaluate the effect of the provision of postgraduate educa tional material on improving practitioner knowledge base during a 3-ye ar period. Materials and Methods: A total of 210 urologists were provi ded 67 monographs in a 2-year period. They were given a pretest before and posttest 1 year after receipt of all monographs. Results: There w as significant improvement in posttest scores for the group as a whole . Improvement correlated with years post-training and number of monogr aphs read. Multivariate analysis revealed the number of monographs rea d was the only independent predictor of outcome. Conclusions: Although the improvement in test scores was significant and did correlate with the postgraduate educational material read, it was modest. This findi ng raises significant concerns about the usefulness of this format for graduate medical education.