Perceptions of continuing medical education, professional development, and organizational support in the United Arab Emirates *

Abstract

This paper investigates the views of health care providers on continuous medical education (CME). To our knowledge, this is one of the first surveys to examine perspectives of CME in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). A 6-part questionnaire focused on the following areas of CME: the workshop leaders/trainers, the training experience, the relevance of CME information provided in the training session, the training approach, the convenience of CME sessions, and organizational support. Results from 147 respondents indicated moderate satisfaction with these 6 CME areas. Respondents did not indicate satisfaction with organizational support received. Furthermore, participants agreed with the importance of CME to professional development. In our sample of UAE health care workers, they agree on the importance and relevance of CME to the development of their profession, even though the majority of health care workers are expatriates. However, several issues must be addressed, such as organizational, logistical, and financial support to attend CME programs. These issues must be addressed in order to sustain the viability of healthcare workers attending CME.