How can physicians learning styles drive educational planning?
As changes in health care delivery systems and in the global burden of disease call for a reassessment of how tomorrow’s physicians should be educated–indeed, for a reconsideration of the diversity of roles the physician should play–there is an immediate need to produce continuing medical education (CME) programs with real impact. Curriculum planners are questioning both the content of medical education and the methods of instruction and training. The product, or content, and the mechanism for its delivery have been defined and discussed, but a significant body of literature has shown that new knowledge does not necessarily lead to new behavior. Ample evidence exists in the CME literature to support the implementation of more active and self-directed learning strategies to promote the desired change in behaviors. The question, then, that is the focus of this article is how educational planning might be better guided by an understanding of how physicians learn within the continuing me
