Impact of Various Continuing Medical Education Activities on Clinical Practice – A Survey of Malaysian Doctors on its Perceived Importance

Impact of Various Continuing Medical Education Activities on Clinical Practice – A Survey of Malaysian Doctors on its Perceived Importance ~ Continuing medical education (CME) plays an indispensable role in the clinical practice of any doctor. The practice of evidence-based medicine today,1 or any meaningful learning per se, requires at least appropriate access to relevant updated medical information. However, the acquisition of such relevant medical knowledge can prove difficult and time-consuming, especially in the face of the rapid and vast advancements in medicine these days.

Consequently, for most doctors with busy practices, reliance on medical circulars, scientific talks and conferences, and increasingly, contacts with pharmaceutical firms and their personnel, to gather necessary information becomes a convenient means of carrying out CME. These practices, unsurprisingly, are not confined to Malaysian doctors alone.

While numerous studies have addressed the concept of evidence-based medicine and its implementation, few have studied doctors’ own perception on the extent of the impact of the various forms of medical information acquisition or CME activities on their clinical practices. This is important because they all seek to provide evidence-based medicine.

To understand this better, we conducted a self-completed posted questionnaire survey among the Malaysian doctors practising in a densely populated urban state of Malaysia (Penang), addressing the perceived importance of a broad range of CME activities that had influenced their clinical practice. Specifically, we sought to study whether there were any important differences between general practitioners (GPs) and non-GPs on these issues.

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