BMC Medical Education (10/14/24) Mueller, Michael R.; Croghan, Ivana T.; Schroeder, Darrell R.; et al.

Hybrid models of continuing medical education (CME) that include both in-person and online learning may be the option that best serves the needs of CME learners, providing flexibility as well as in-person networking and collaboration opportunities, according to new research. The cross-sectional study included attendees of two large internal medicine CME courses held in 2021, with courses offered in-person and virtually. Upon course completion, the participants answered a 5-minute, 41-question survey on their CME preferences, current mode of participation, digital media comfort, background and practice, and demographics. Researchers received 146 responses (a 30.2% response rate). The 77 respondents who attended in-person courses cited the opportunity to travel and collaboration/networking with others as the most frequent reasons for choosing that mode of participation. For the 68 respondents who took the livestream courses, COVID-related concerns, convenience, and travel costs were cited most often. Overall, 91% of the in-person participants said they would choose the same mode of attendance if given the option again compared with 65% of the livestream participants. The researchers recommend that "best practices should make all CME course materials available online and asynchronously from course presentations."

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