title: Continuing Professional Development via Social Media or Conference Attendance: A Cost Analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Professional development is essential in the health disciplines. Knowing the cost and value of educational approaches informs decisions and choices about learning and teaching practices.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The primary aim of this study was to conduct a cost analysis of participation in continuing professional development via social media compared with live conference attendance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinicians interested in musculoskeletal care were invited to participate in the study activities. Quantitative data were obtained from an anonymous electronic questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 272 individuals invited to contribute data to this study, 150 clinicians predominantly from Australia, United States, United Kingdom, India, and Malaysia completed the outcome measures. Half of the respondents (78/150, 52.0%) believed that they would learn more with the live conference format. The median perceived participation costs for the live conference format was Aus $1596 (interquartile range, IQR 172.50-2852.00). The perceived cost of participation for equivalent content delivered via social media was Aus $15 (IQR 0.00-58.50). The majority of the clinicians (114/146, 78.1%, missing data n=4) indicated that they would pay for a subscription-based service, delivered by social media, to the median value of Aus $59.50.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Social media platforms are evolving into an acceptable and financially sustainable medium for the continued professional development of health professionals. When factoring in the reduced costs of participation and the reduced loss of employable hours from the perspective of the health service, professional development via social media has unique strengths that challenge the traditional live conference delivery format.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy. Monash University, Frankston, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2612-5162
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maloney
authors.affiliation: Epworth Health Care, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4576-1044
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tunnecliff
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy. Monash University, Frankston, Australia.
authors.forename: Prue
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2573-6562
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Morgan
authors.affiliation: University of Canberra Research Institute for Sport and Exercise (UC-RISE), Canberra, Australia.
authors.forename: James
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4504-9188
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gaida
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiotherapy. Monash University, Frankston, Australia.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3161-4964
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Keating
authors.affiliation: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6591-9411
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Clearihan
authors.affiliation: Monash University, Sunway, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sivalal
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0181-5223
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sadasivan
authors.affiliation: Composite Regional Center for Persons with Disabilities, Lucknow, India.
authors.forename: Shankar
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9264-2312
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganesh
authors.affiliation: Swami Vivekanand National Institute of Rehabilitation Training and Research, Cuttack, India.
authors.forename: Patitapaban
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1894-9324
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mohanty
authors.affiliation: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5895-8973
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Weiner
authors.affiliation: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: George
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7262-2587
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rivers
authors.affiliation: Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Dragan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5127-9185
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ilic
keywords: continuing medical education; knowledge translation; social media