Continuing Medical Education among Ministry of Health Primary Care Physicians in Bahrain: Experiences and Perceptions

Abstract

Introduction: Continuing medical education (CME) is the process through which health professionals engage in activities designed to support their continuing professional development. It is a requirement for physician relicensing, and recredentialing. Existing literature shows that CME improves physician performance as well as patient health outcomes. It is incumbent to study the experiences and attitudes of physicians towards CME activities in view of the impact of CME on the professional development. Purpose: To describe experiences and perceptions of CME activities among primary care physicians in Bahrain. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study that included all registered primary health care physicians in the ministry of health in Bahrain. Data was collected using self-administered online survey distributed to 350 primary care physicians in Bahrain. The five-point Likert scale questionnaire is composed of five sections: socio-demographic data, participant`s experiences with CME, Reasons for attending CME activities, barriers to attending CME activities and benefits of CME in relation to different delivery methods. Results: Total responses were 210 (60% response rate). The mean age of respondents was 40.8(SD 8.9) and the majority (84.4%) were female. Most of the CMEs were in the form of lectures (88.6%), interdepartmental activities (80.5%) and conferences (78.1%). Driving forces for CME were for credentialing /licensing (92.9%), develop clinical competencies (92.9%), improve clinical services/programs (95.2%) and to introduce new technology/techniques (88.6%). Regarding barriers encountered, financial support was the most encountered (mean 4.11 (SD 0.92)), followed by lack of time (mean 4.05 (SD 1.07)). Conclusion: Despite the barriers encountered, Bahraini physicians had a positive experience and attitude toward undertaking CME. There is a need for financial support and protected time to attend CME activities as well as further studies to explore how best these challenges could be managed and solved.