A shift from passive teaching at medical conferences to more interactive methods improves physician learning.

Sir, Medical conferences provide one of the main avenues for continuing physician education, maintenance of professional standards and professional accreditation (Davis et al. 1995, 1999). Traditional medical conferences remain predominantly didactic and passive, employing lectures or presentations with minimal audience interaction or discussion. These methods have consistently been found to not alter physician behaviour, improve clinical performance or change patient outcome (Davis et al. 1995, 1999; O’Brien et al. 2001; Weller & Harrison 2004), leading some to surmise that conferences are generally ineffective in changing in physician behaviour (Davis et al. 1999).