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Volume 19 (1)
Volume 19, Issue 1, Winter 1999
J Contin Educ Health Prof 1999; 19(1):16-24
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
JCEHP AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH
Full Text
Study of the Factors Influencing the Stimulus to Learning
Recorded by Physicians Keeping a Learning Portfolio
Craig Campbell, MD, FRCPC
John Parboosingh, MB, FRCOG, FRCSC
Tunde Gondocz, MSc
Galina Babitskaya, BSc
Ba Pham, M Math
A b s t r a c t
While studies in continuing education have identified the information sources most
frequently used by physicians for learning, little is known of what stimulates physicians to
engage in learning activities that lead to a commitment to adopt a new practice. This study
reports on the recorded stimulus for learning of 8576 items of learning submitted by 652 physicians
who voluntarily enrolled in the Maintenance of Competence program (MOCOMP®) of
the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and used a paper or electronic diary
(PCDiary®) to record self-directed learning activities. The most frequent stimuli for initiating
learning were reading the medical literature and managing patients. The only demographic
variable that significantly influenced the item stimulus profile of these physicians was the
number of years since graduation (p = .0001). Physicians less than 10 years from graduation
more frequently recorded learning items stimulated by an audit of practice and less frequently
by a discussion with peers compared with physicians in practice more than 10 years. Physicians
in practice for more than 30 years initiated learning activities primarily based on their inter-action
with patients. There was no significant relationship between the item stimulus profile
and the physicians’ specialty type (p = .47), size of the community where their practice is
located (p = .24), or their type of university association (p= .17). This study provides evidence
related to differences between the activities physicians perceived had stimulated learning and
the likelihood that the learning would lead them to make a commitment to change practice.
The stimulus code " reviewing the management of more than one patient" was 47% more likely
(odds ratio = 1.47, 95% CI, 1.27, 1.71, p < .001) and “audits of a clinical or laboratory prac-tice”
31% more likely (odds ratio = 1.31, 95% CI, 1.04, 1.66, p = .024) to result in a commitment
to make a change in practice than reading the medical literature, the most frequently assigned
stimulus for learning. The implications of these findings related to models of physician learning
and studies of change in continuing medical education are discussed.
Keywords: Continuing Medical Education; Learning Portfolios; Outcome; Planned Change;
Stimulus for Learning
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