Effect of continuous professional development course of Family Medicine Essentials on Physician′s knowledge, skills, and attitude among primary healthcare physicians in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: This study was designed to measure the outcome of the continuous professional development (CPD) course (Family Medicine Essentials) conducted and organised by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on the knowledge, skills, and attitude of primary healthcare (PHC) physicians in patient care. Materials and Methods: This study was based on pre- and post-implementation of training evaluation, which included the seven CPD modules in family medicine customised for non-certified family physicians working at MOH and PHCs in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted from March 2009 to 2010 and it included 259 family physicians working in PHCs and MOH. The pre- and post-test scores for mean knowledge, skills and attitude were compared using paired t-test. P Results: The results showed that the percentage of male participants (80.3%) was higher than females (19.7%). The mean age of the participants was 39.6 ± 8.0 years. A significant difference was found in pre- and post-test scores of PHC physicians' attitude, knowledge and skills. Attitude increased from 77.5 ± 6.1 to 83.0 ± 7.8 (P Conclusion: Participants in the CPD course showed significant improvement in their level of knowledge, clinical skills and attitude in patient care. However, further case-control studies and practice evaluations are required to obtain more in-depth information on the impact of this course on PHC physicians.