Motivation of general practitioners for continuing medical education

Abstract

   Objective. To assess the initial level of knowledge of general practitioners (GPs), depending on work experience, the availability of a medical category and the need for professional training.
   Materials and methods. 65 GPs took part in the survey and were divided into four groups: group 1 — 29 people (44.6 %) had 10 years or more work experience in the specialty; group 2 — 36 people (55.4 %) less than 10 years of experience; group 3 — 29 people (44.6 %) had qualification categories; group 4 — 36 people (55.4 %) without qualification category.
   Results. The article provides an assessment of the initial level of knowledge of GPs who took advanced training courses at the department of general medical practice and outpatient therapy according to 10 questions of a questionnaire developed at the department.
   An insufficient level of knowledge of GPs on current issues of therapy was revealed, with a low percentage of correct answers for: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — 32 %; osteoporosis — 18.5 %; target lipid levels — 26 %; ischemic disease heart disease — 52 %; supraventricular tachycardia — 44.5 %. GPs’ awareness of most of the proposed issues does not depend on their length of service or category. Only knowledge of diagnostic criteria for osteopenia and osteoporosis was higher in the presence of a category (31.0 % versus 8,3 %, p = 0.02).
   Conclusion. In today’s world, to achieve success, you need to improve every day. This means that a doctor should not only receive a «lifelong education» but also continue «lifelong education».