Lori Hill (College of Family Physicians of Canada); Bernard Marlow (College of Family Physicians of Canada); Lynn Dunikowski (College of Family Physicians of Canada); Inese Grava-Gubins (College of Family Physicians of Canada); David Dixon (The University of Western Ontario)

Purpose

To assess the educational impact of a multi-day CME meeting targeting family physicians.

Methods

Data were collected from participant-completed evaluation forms that provided space to record 3 commitment to change (CTC) statements. Altogether, 313 attendees’ provided a total of 887 CTC statements.

Primary, secondary, and tertiary classification systems were developed and agreed upon by the 4 independent raters. Analysis using Kappa statistics was performed to determine consistency among raters.

Results

Of the 870 comments included in the study, approximately 75% were classified as true changebased statements. Statements focusing on awareness of new information were the second-most common, followed by those indicating validation of current approach or methodology, with no intent to change indicated.

CTC statements focused primarily on treatment and management, and on diagnosis. Office/practice management, communication, and personal-professional items were less frequently reported.

The majority of CTC statements were classified as conforming to the CanMEDS-FM family medicine expert role. The communicator role was the next most frequently identified, followed by the manager role, and collaborator.

Conclusions

The potential for large-group CME events to evoke significant change in practice does exist. The potential for change is not limited to diagnosis, treatment, and referral. It includes a number of domains and roles including personal-professional and office/practice management changes, communication, and collaboration.