Article type
Year
Abstract
Background: Continuing education activities for clinicians are often not based on best evidence and rely heavily on pharmaceutical industry support which is problematic. The Therapeutics Initiative (TI) and the Hypertension Review Group (HRG) have developed a strategy to overcome these issues.
Objectives: • Provide ethically sound knowledge based on systematic reviews which is independent of industry funding. • Establish a sustainable and collaborative knowledge exchange environment between groups of knowledge-users (physicians and pharmacists). • Develop tools to transfer evidence from systematic reviews into practice accommodating different learning styles and access to educational opportunities.
Methods: (1) Creation of a team of knowledge-users, academic researchers, and educators to develop a comprehensive multi-faceted continuing education strategy. (2) Create learning environment that enables physicians and pharmacists to learn together. (3) Develop a varied approach catering to the needs of clinicians with different learning styles and differing access to continuing education. • Website • Medical evidence podcasts • Evidence summaries • Case-based workshops • Critical appraisal courses (4) Finding alternative models of funding and have no pharmaceutical industry input.
Results: (1) Six educational events with 15 of topics and over 500 practitioners in which over 90% of participants thought: • the information was practical, • productive to work with interdisciplinary colleges, • excellent information • would attend again (2) Material for these events was used subsequently for over 50 presentations with smaller groups at the hospitals in British Columbia (BC) Canada. (3) Over 20 presentations on how to critically appraise the literature (4) Four Therapeutic Letters which go physically to over 14 000 physicians and pharmacists in BC and over 6500 online users. (5) Five podcast which elaborate on the systematic reviews and newsletters.
Conclusions: The TI and the HRG have been successful in providing best evidence to front-line clinicians in an ethically sound environment.
Objectives: • Provide ethically sound knowledge based on systematic reviews which is independent of industry funding. • Establish a sustainable and collaborative knowledge exchange environment between groups of knowledge-users (physicians and pharmacists). • Develop tools to transfer evidence from systematic reviews into practice accommodating different learning styles and access to educational opportunities.
Methods: (1) Creation of a team of knowledge-users, academic researchers, and educators to develop a comprehensive multi-faceted continuing education strategy. (2) Create learning environment that enables physicians and pharmacists to learn together. (3) Develop a varied approach catering to the needs of clinicians with different learning styles and differing access to continuing education. • Website • Medical evidence podcasts • Evidence summaries • Case-based workshops • Critical appraisal courses (4) Finding alternative models of funding and have no pharmaceutical industry input.
Results: (1) Six educational events with 15 of topics and over 500 practitioners in which over 90% of participants thought: • the information was practical, • productive to work with interdisciplinary colleges, • excellent information • would attend again (2) Material for these events was used subsequently for over 50 presentations with smaller groups at the hospitals in British Columbia (BC) Canada. (3) Over 20 presentations on how to critically appraise the literature (4) Four Therapeutic Letters which go physically to over 14 000 physicians and pharmacists in BC and over 6500 online users. (5) Five podcast which elaborate on the systematic reviews and newsletters.
Conclusions: The TI and the HRG have been successful in providing best evidence to front-line clinicians in an ethically sound environment.