proper e-content format for internet based continuous medical education in iran

introduction: as there are different e-cme content formats, we need documented evidence for comparing them. in this study, we determined the proper e-content format for cme activities in iran. methods: we devised a questionnaire to gather the opinion of the faculty members who had the experience of e-cme content development about the proper e-cme content format for iranian medical society. based on their opinion, we developed 20 e-cme contents and delivered them to the medical society. learners’ evaluation of the contents provided us with the evidence for assessing the experts’ opinion. results: there was a significant difference among scores that faculty members had given to different types of contents (p<0.001). they believed that case-based interactive e-contents would improve learners’ performance and increase their interest more than other formats. but they declared that this kind of e-content development is more difficult and time-consuming than developing other types. learners rated the programs as 4.56 (sd= 0.65) on the 1–5 likert-type scale, which shows that they are satisfied with this e-content format. conclusion: considering the necessity to compare different e-learning strategies and also defining national models to apply them, this study’s results would help designers and providers of e-cme programs in decision making. but more studies should be performed to determine these programs’ learning outcomes.