TY - JOUR
T1 - A Needs and Resource Assessment of Continuing Medical Education in Haiti
AU - Nádas, Marisa
AU - Bedenbaugh, Rachel
AU - Morse, Michelle
AU - McMahon, Graham T.
AU - Curry, Christine L.
N1 - Funding Information:
Financial support for this research was provided by the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Support for Excellence in Educational Development (SEED) grant. All authors had access to the data presented here and played a role in manuscript writing.
Funding Information:
The authors acknowledge EqualHealth for providing the venue within which this research was conducted. They also acknowledge the Support for Excellence and Educational Development (SEED) grant through Brigham and Women’s Hospital that provided financial support for this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 The Authors.
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - Abstract Background Haiti has a chronic physician shortage, and the country has been facing an increased disease burden since the 2010 earthquake and the subsequent introduction of cholera. In such resource-challenged settings, access to postgraduate medical education often is limited due to inadequate financial, structural, and academic resources. A crucial component to improved health in Haiti is the expansion of continuing medical education (CME). To our knowledge there have been no previous studies investigating the continuing professional development needs of Haitian physicians working in this context. Objective The objectives of this study are to describe the educational resources available to Haitian physicians and to understand their continuing professional development needs. Methods We performed a needs and resource assessment of CME available to Haitian physicians using surveys and focus groups. We surveyed 62 physicians and led 3 focus groups. Questions gathered data on physicians' access to educational resources. Descriptive statistics were calculated from surveys, and focus group transcripts were manually reviewed for themes. Findings In all, 82 conference attendees were invited to participate. Of these, 62 physicians completed the needs and resource assessment survey. Of the participants, 16% had a medical library at work and 31% had access to a computer at work. Educational conferences were available at work for 27% of participants, and 50% attended conferences outside of work. Less than half (45%) identified a clinical mentor. Focus group participants described inadequate tangible and reference resources, lack of colleague support, and lack of avenues for specialty training and employment. Conclusions In this needs assessment, Haitian physicians identified lack of support for clinical decision making, poor access to CME activities, limited professional development, and absence of employment opportunities as key areas of need in support of their clinical and professional work.
AB - Abstract Background Haiti has a chronic physician shortage, and the country has been facing an increased disease burden since the 2010 earthquake and the subsequent introduction of cholera. In such resource-challenged settings, access to postgraduate medical education often is limited due to inadequate financial, structural, and academic resources. A crucial component to improved health in Haiti is the expansion of continuing medical education (CME). To our knowledge there have been no previous studies investigating the continuing professional development needs of Haitian physicians working in this context. Objective The objectives of this study are to describe the educational resources available to Haitian physicians and to understand their continuing professional development needs. Methods We performed a needs and resource assessment of CME available to Haitian physicians using surveys and focus groups. We surveyed 62 physicians and led 3 focus groups. Questions gathered data on physicians' access to educational resources. Descriptive statistics were calculated from surveys, and focus group transcripts were manually reviewed for themes. Findings In all, 82 conference attendees were invited to participate. Of these, 62 physicians completed the needs and resource assessment survey. Of the participants, 16% had a medical library at work and 31% had access to a computer at work. Educational conferences were available at work for 27% of participants, and 50% attended conferences outside of work. Less than half (45%) identified a clinical mentor. Focus group participants described inadequate tangible and reference resources, lack of colleague support, and lack of avenues for specialty training and employment. Conclusions In this needs assessment, Haitian physicians identified lack of support for clinical decision making, poor access to CME activities, limited professional development, and absence of employment opportunities as key areas of need in support of their clinical and professional work.
KW - Haiti
KW - brain drain
KW - continuing medical education
KW - continuing professional development
KW - needs assessment
KW - resource assessment
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U2 - 10.1016/j.aogh.2015.03.003
DO - 10.1016/j.aogh.2015.03.003
M3 - Article
C2 - 26088090
AN - SCOPUS:84931038350
VL - 81
SP - 248
EP - 254
JO - Annals of Global Health
JF - Annals of Global Health
SN - 2214-9996
IS - 2
M1 - 94
ER -
