Continuing medical education: a needs analysis of anaesthetists.

The continuing medical education (CME) needs of anaesthetists within Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore have been largely unknown. The aim of this study was to undertake a comprehensive survey of the attitude to CME, learning preferences, attitudes and abilities relating to self-paced material, literature and information searching, preferred content and preferred approach to CME of anaesthetists within these countries. A survey tool was developed and refined for ease of use by pilot-testing. The survey was mailed to 3,156 anaesthetists throughout Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Three options for data return were offered; postal reply, facsimile and a data entry web-page. There were 1,800 responses, which represented a response rate of 57%. The demographics of the respondents were similar to the overall demographics of Fellows of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. A large majority of respondents (92%) stated that their involvement in CME improved patient care. However, almost half the respondents reported that they have difficulty either in participating in current CME activities (31%) or implementing new knowledge into their workplace (14%). Anaesthetists within this region appear to be motivated by the need to make better decisions based on independent standards of practice. While Australia is a world leader in flexible education, it is still emerging as a discipline. Flexible education may be used to facilitate anaesthetists' participation in CME activities and in implementation of new knowledge in their workplace.