Continuing Medical Education for Community and Hospital Physicians in Israel

Background: In this study we aimed to evaluate Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities of primary care physicians. Methods: An e-mail questionnaire, based on the Jefferson Scale of Physician Life Long Learning (JSPLL), was sent to hospital- and community-based physicians in the Negev District. Results: Eighty eight hospital-based physicians (38% response rate) and 118 community-based physicians (31% response) participated in the study. Hospital physicians participated more in annual meetings of professional medical associations (P<0.0001). They also gave more talks at professional meetings and took part more in research studies (P<0.0001). The variables that predicted the upper tertile of the most updated physicians were age (OR=0.947; 95% CI 0.926-0.968), male gender (OR=2.502; 95% CI 1.019-4.268), and active participation in teaching (OR=4.013; 95% CI 1.347-11.954). Conclusion: Both hospital and community physicians have a high level of access to medical journals and the Internet, but CME activities have been adapted more by hospital physicians.