JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Many national medical governing bodies encourage physicians to partake in continuing professional development (CPD) activities to cultivate their knowledge and skills to ensure their clinical practice reflects the current standards and evidence base. However, physicians often face several encumbrances that limit their engagement in such programs, including time constraints, lack of centralized coordination of CPD activities, and absence of self-assessment. The literature has highlighted the strength in utilizing question-based learning interventions to augment physician learning and further enable change in practice. This creates a low-stakes learning environment that supports physicians’ CPD. CPD-Min is a smartphone-enabled web-based application, which was developed to address self-assessment gaps and barriers to engagement in CPD activities.

Objective:

This study assesses the app using four objectives (1) physicians’ acceptability of this novel tool as an educational initiative; (2) relevance of the disseminated information to physicians’ practice; (3) engagement and usage of the app throughout the study; and (4) effectiveness of this tool as a CPD activity.

Methods:

The CPD-Min app disseminated two-weekly (1-minute each) multiple choice questions with feedback and references to participants. The questions were peer-reviewed by a team of anesthesiologists at the University Health Network. Participants included licensed staff physicians, fellows, and residents across Canada. A concurrent multi-methods study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness and relevance of the CPD By the Min app. Data collection methods consisted of pre-post surveys, semi-structured interviews, and app analytics. Guided by the RE-AIM framework, the qualitative data was analyzed deductively and inductively.

Results:

Of the 105 Canadian anesthesiologists participating in the study, 89 were staff physicians, 12 were fellows, and 4 were residents. Participants completed 110 questions each over the course of 52-weeks, with a average completion rate of 75% (±33.0). 41% of participants answered over 90% of the questions, including 15% who completed all questions. A majority of the participants (84%, n=63) who completed the post surveys (n=75) reported they would likely continuing using the app as a CPD tool. 69% of participants reported reported the app to be an effective and valuable resource for their practice and enhance continuous learning. These findings were further supported by the interview data. Three key themes were identified: the practical design of the novel educational app facilitates its adoption by clinicians; the app was perceived as a knowledge tool for continuous learning; and the app’s low-stakes testing environment cultivated independent learning attitudes.

Conclusions:

Findings suggest the potential of the app to improve longitudinal assessments that promote lifelong learning among care providers. The positive feedback and increased acceptance of the app corroborates it as an innovative tool for knowledge retention and CPD. Future research efforts should prioritize evaluating the app’s long-term sustainability and its impact on physicians’ practice, as well as exploring alternative approaches (such as AI-based tools) for generating questions.