Evaluation of Diverse Health Professionals' Learning Experience in a Continuing Education Activity for Quality Practices in Molecular Genetic Testing.

Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the responses of 3,265 health professionals who took a continuing education (CE) activity during June 2009 - April 2012 for a comprehensive set of good laboratory practice recommendations for molecular genetic testing.

Design: Participants completed an evaluation questionnaire as part of the CE activity. Responses were summarized to assess the participants' learning outcomes and commitment to applying the knowledge gained.

Participants: Participants included nurses (47%), laboratory professionals (18%), physicians (14%), health educators (4%), public health professionals (2%), office staff (1%), and other health professionals (10%).

Results: Only 32% of all participants correctly answered all 12 open-book knowledge-check questions, ranging from 4 to 42% among the different professional groups (P<0.0001). However, over 80% of all participants expressed confidence in describing the practice recommendations, and 75% indicated the recommendations would improve the quality of their practice. Developing health education materials and local practice guidelines represented the common areas in which participants planned to use the knowledge gained (49% and 18% of all participants, respectively).

Conclusion: Despite perceived self-efficacy in most participants, as high as 68% did not fully use the learning materials provided to answer the knowledge-check questions. These findings suggest the need for improved CE activities that motivate effective learning and address the specific needs of different health professions.