title: [Practice guidelines, CME and epidemiologic research in general practice: a consistent triad?].
abstract: A multidisciplinary effort involving epidemiologists, general practitioners and specialists is critical for finding valid and feasible answers, by asking the right questions through observational and experimental studies. Clinical practice guidelines may represent a good starting point of this research process, highlighting which information needs exist in everyday practice; logically, guidelines also represent an ideal end, as a means of transferring any useful knowledge produced into practice. In between, this research process may have an added educational value and represent an active and valuable means of achieving continuing medical education credits. Consistency of the research-education-guidelines triad is discussed in this paper by describing methods and results of a practical research experience--a cohort study for evaluating prevalence, incidence, chronicity and management of digestive disorders--involving epidemiologists, gastroenterologists and thirty-five general practitioners of the Emilia-Romagna region.
authors.affiliation: CeVEAS, Centro per la valutazione della efficacia della assistenza sanitaria, Modena, Italy. g.formoso@ausl.mo.it
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Formoso
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Maestri
authors.forename: Cesare
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tosetti
authors.forename: Suzzi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fabio
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Magrini
mesh_terms: D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing; D015340:Epidemiologic Research Design; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic