Postgraduate education: does it improve the knowledge base of practitioners with time?
OBJECTIVE
We evaluate the effect of the provision of postgraduate educational material on improving practitioner knowledge base during a 3-year period.


METHODS
A total of 210 urologists were provided 67 monographs in a 2-year period. They were given a pretest before and posttest 1 year after receipt of all monographs.


RESULTS
There was significant improvement in posttest scores for the group as a whole. Improvement correlated with years post-training and number of monographs read. Multivariate analysis revealed the number of monographs read was the only independent predictor of outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the improvement in test scores was significant and did correlate with the postgraduate educational material read, it was modest. This finding raises significant concerns about the usefulness of this format for graduate medical education.
Department of Urology, Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114, USA.
W S
WS
McDougal
M E
ME
Lunz
G
G
Hirst
D002983:Clinical Competence; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D013664:Teaching Materials; D013997:Time Factors; D014572:Urology / Q000193:education*