Needs assessment for continuing medical education amongst doctors working in rural Nepal

Objectives: To define the Continuing Medical Education (CME) needs of doctors working in rural Nepal.

Methodology: 51 out of the 75 districts of Nepal were randomly selected after stratification by geographical area (excluding Kathmandu). All doctors working in both the public and private sectors in these districts were interviewed using a survey questionnaire.

Results: A total of 213 doctors were interviewed. The majority (80%) had no postgraduate qualifications and 49% had less than 2 years clinical experience. 69.9% had a computer, with 55.3% having internet access. Doctors’ main priorities for CME were the management of acute emergency problems in obstetrics, medicine, paediatrics and trauma/orthopaedics. There was a clear preference for skills based courses. Interactive, accessible, up-to-date CME was wanted, although internet and CD ROM methods were low on the preference scale. Many respondents expressed the desire for someone to guide them through a CME programme.

Conclusions: Doctors in rural Nepal want individualized, up-to-date, interactive CME with particular emphasis on acute emergency management. Skills based courses were popular but not easily accessible. Many have access to computer/internet, but would need support in how to use it for CME. Doctors wanted support in the learning process.