Small-group CME using e-mail discussions - Can it work?

PROBLEM BEING ADDRESSED Traditional continuing medical education (CME) appr oaches do not work well in changing physicians' behaviour, but some promisi ng strategies and technologies might help. Our program sought to meld small -group learning with an Internet e-mail approach. OBJECTIVE OF PROGRAM In 1994, the Family medicine Education and Research Ne twork (FERN) was developed to support on-line discussion among London, Ont, and area family physicians. To support educational. moderated case discuss ions using e-mail, FERN Dissemination (FERN-D) was introduced to a subgroup of participants. We hoped to increase awareness and use of evidence-based research in clinical practice and to increase use of Internet-based resourc es for CME. The target group was family physicians in the London area. MAIN COMPONENTS OF PROGRAM Forty volunteers were recruited and were e-maile d one case every 2 weeks: 34 completed the study. Each cave was followed by further postings and, at the end of 2 weeks, by a summary of the group's d iscussion. Background material for each case was researched and was evidenc e-based. Evaluation was conducted using preintervention and postinterventio n mailed surveys combined with an e-mail feedback questionnaire and a modif ied focus group. CONCLUSION On-line case-based discussion is a promising strategy for encour aging family physicians to access current research. More research is needed to determine whether it can be effectively used to change physicians' prac tice.