A controlled evaluation of a national continuing medical education programme designed to improve family physicians' implementation of diabetes-specific clinical practice guidelines

Aims New approaches to continuing medical education will facilitate the imp lementation of clinical practice guidelines. This study assessed the short and long-term impact of a 7-h, small group workshop on family physicians' a ttitude, knowledge and self-reported practice patterns regarding diabetes m ellitus. Methods One hundred and seventy-seven of 1807 family physicians who partici pated in this nationwide workshop, and 113 non-participant controls complet ed two validated questionnaires; Participants completed one questionnaire b efore the workshop and a second equivalent questionnaire 1 month later. Non -participant controls also completed the two questionnaires 1 month apart. Between 8 and 24 months later, these individuals were mailed the same quest ionnaire they; completed on the first occasion; 143 participants and 50 con trols returned this third questionnaire. Results Participants were more likely to be female (P = 0.03), not certifie d in family practice (P = 0.02), in a smaller centre (P = 0.0005), recent m edical graduates (P = 0.001) and seeing fewer patients per month (P = 0.01) than controls. Compared to controls, participants had improved their attit ude (P < 0.0001), knowledge (P = 0.04) and self-reported practice patterns (P < 0.002) regarding diabetes after 1 month but not after 1 year. Conclusions An interactive, small group, diabetes continuing education prog ramme effectively disseminates practice guidelines to family physicians. Th e impact of such a programme declines after 1 year.