Evaluation of Verbal Continuing Medical Education Programs Organized by the Department of Continuing Education of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2011-2012

Background: Continuing education education (CME) includes all educational programs after graduation in order to maintain and improve the skills and update medical knowledge. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the educational programs held by the CME department of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences.
Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, CME programs held in 2011 and 2012 were evaluated. Data including the type of CME program, target group and number of participants were collected. In this study only the data of groups which were targeted for most programs were analyzed.
Results: A total of 597 CME programs including 87 compiled programs, 36 seminars, 107 workshops, 105 conferences, 243 periodic conferences, 9 professional short courses and 10 congresses were held in 2011 and 671 CME programs including 100 compiled programs, 28 seminars, 90 workshops, 151 conferences, 282 periodic conferences, 10 professional short courses and 10 congresses were held in 2012. In the majority of programs, general physicians (GPs), internal medicine specialists, gynecologists, oncologists, general surgeons and nurses were the target group. Considering the ratio of participants to the programs for each target group, nurses, GPs, pharmacists, dentists and midwives participated in the highest rates. On the other hand, thoracic surgeons, oncologists and radiotherapists had the lowest rate of participation in the programs.
Conclusion: Conducting CME programs, in addition to detailed planning, scheduled implementation and precise scoring for each group; requires accurate determination of target groups and timely informing to them. Revising the definition of target groups, rapid informing of each program to target groups and moving towards e-learning should be the goals of the department of CME.