Satisfaction and attitudes towards online continuous medical education and its impact on clinical practice among physiotherapists

• Published in: BMC medical education 2024-01, Vol.24 (1), p.70-70, Article 70
• Main Authors: Shalabi, Kholood Matouq, Almurdi, Muneera Mohammed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Attitude; Attitudes; Behavioral Objectives; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; Chronic illnesses; Clinical outcomes; Clinical practice; College Students; Computer Literacy; Content Validity; Continuing Education; Continuing medical education; COVID-19; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Distance Education; Distance learning; Education, Medical, Continuing - methods; Educational aspects; Electronic Equipment; Electronic Learning; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; In Person Learning; Knowledge; Learning Management Systems; Likert scale; Likert Scales; Male; Management Systems; Marital Status; Medical education; Nontraditional Education; Online Courses; Online education; Online instruction; Online medical education; Pandemics; Participant Satisfaction; Patient satisfaction; Patients; Personal Satisfaction; Physical Therapists; Physical therapy; Physicians; Positive Attitudes; Professional Continuing Education; Public opinion; Rehabilitation; Sample size; Satisfaction; Skills; Students; Teaching; Training; Validity; Vocational guidance; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1472-6920; 1472-6920
• DOI: 10.1186/s12909-024-05049-2

The traditional face-to-face of medical education is gradually being replaced with online education. However, the rate of adoption of online continuing medical education (OCME) as a learning method among practicing clinical physiotherapists (PTs) is unclear. The objectives of this study were to measure the satisfaction with, attitudes towards, and impact of OCME among practicing clinical PTs in Saudi Arabia (SA) and to examine the factors that affect the findings for satisfaction, attitude, and impact towards OCME. This cross-sectional survey was conducted between October 2021 and January 2022. PTs employed at various medical facilities and specialties in Saudi Arabia completed an online survey to assess satisfaction with, attitudes towards, and impact of OCME. Of the 127 participants, 48 were female (37.8%), 44.1% were aged between 24 and 30 years. Overall, 57.5% of the respondents were satisfied with OCME compared with conventional face-to-face education, and 45.7% agreed and 18.1% strongly agreed that OCME was more flexible. Further, 52.8% of the respondents thought that OCME programs could supplement traditional face-to-face education. The majority of the participants (63.8%) agreed that participating in OCME programs increased their knowledge, and 55.1% and 51.2% agreed that attending these programs improved patient outcomes and increased their confidence in patient management, respectively. However, only 38.6% agreed that participating in OCME programs enhanced their clinical expertise. The mean satisfaction, attitude, and impact scores differed significantly according to age group, marital status, number of years of practice, and specialty (p