Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions



HOME \| SITE MAP \| CONTACT US
Your Location: Home > Volume 22, Issue 3

CURRENT ISSUE BACK ISSUES SUBSCRIBE ADVERTISE ABOUT JCEHP FOR AUTHORS JCEHP AWARD SEARCH (Members only) FULL-TEXT		Volume 22 (3) Volume 22, Issue 3, Summer 2002 J Contin Educ Health Prof 2002; 22(3):160-169 ORIGINAL ARTICLES Educationally influential physicians: the need for construct validation Ryan DP Marlow B Fisher R A b s t r a c t INTRODUCTION: Educationally influential physicians may be a valuable resource in continuing medical education. Although the idea driving this research--informal learning--converges with research in adult education, organizational learning, marketing, and knowledge diffusion, the results of interventions have proven inconclusive. To actualize the promise of the educationally influential physician (EIP) construct, it is argued that researchers must return to the "classic" studies in this area and resume the process of validating the meaning of the construct. METHODS: A literature review and the occasion of an educationally influential physician identification survey provided an opportunity to contribute to development of this construct. We compared three identification rules used to study 212 physicians. RESULTS: Each rule may identify different people as EIPs. DISCUSSION: To improve the use of educational influentials, research must be completed to validate their role in informal learning. Lessons for Practice Differing methods may be used to identify physician opinion leaders who carry informal influence. Physicians who occupy formal leadership roles do not necessarily carry informal influence. Physicians with informal influence are always willing to answer questions; they stay up to date, and they treat others as equals. MeSH Terms: Data Collection; Education, Medical, Continuing; Interprofessional Relations; Leadership; Learning; Models, Educational; Peer Group; Physician's Role; Reproducibility of Results; Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Publication Type: Review
HOME \| SITE MAP \| CONTACT US Copyright © 1996-2012 JCEHP.com & The Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions All rights reserved Disclaimer · About This Site · Web Editor · Make JCEHP Your Homepage Information on this site was last updated: 31 January 2012