General Practitioners Online: The Conditions Are Good, But Use of the Internet for Continuing Medical Education Found to Be Poor

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: In recent years, there has been an increasing trend towards the development of e-learning-modules for general medical training and continuing medical education (CME). The majority of these offerings make use of the Internet. The aim of this study was to examine general practitioners' attitude towards and their use of the Internet and online CME, their demand for such offerings and the problems associated with it on the basis of a representative survey. METHODS: In June 2006, a standardized 6-page questionnaire with 27 questions about "The Internet and online CME'' was sent out to all general practitioners in six districts (n = 1304) of South-Baden and South-Wurttemberg in Germany. Data were subjected to descriptive statistical analysis. RESULTS: 351 physicians (27%) returned the questionnaire. The majority (94.5%) reported to have Internet access, but mostly at home, and not in the office. 45.9% of the respondents rated their Internet skills as "moderate'', and 31.9% as "good'' or "very good''. The physicians' rating of the effectiveness of online CME was similar: 39% rated it as "moderate'', and 31.1% as "high'' or "very high''. Usage of online CME was low: only 19.9% reported "frequent'' or "very frequent'' use. CONCLUSION: The technical conditions for using the Internet are quite favourable. The effectiveness of online CME was rated between "moderate'' and "high''. However, the use of such offerings is poor. Further analyses of the data will provide possible starting points for implementing online CME services or for increasing its use.