Unmet needs in continuing medical education programs for rural Chinese township health professionals

Abstract

Purpose:This study aimed to describe the system of continuing medical education (CME) in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and to ascertain the perceived needs related to that system, in order to improve the performance of health professionals in Chinese township health centers (THCs).Methods:In-depth key informant interviews were conducted to gain insights into the current CME system. A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered structured questionnaire was also carried out from March to August 2014 in order to identify perceived needs among THC personnel in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Logistic regression was used to identify factors related to respondents’ interest in pursuing different levels of degree study.Results:The areas of need perceived by the respondents included general clinical competence and emergency or first aid knowledge. Most respondents wanted to study at medical colleges in order to obtain a higher degree. Respondents aged below 45 years with neutral or positive attitudes about the benefit of degree study for the licensure examination were more likely to attend a bachelor-level CME program than their older peers and respondents with negative attitudes towards degree study. Female respondents and respondents aged below 45 years were more likely to attend a junior college CME program than males and older respondents, respectively.Conclusion:It is necessary to develop degree-linked CME programs to meet the need for young health professionals in Chinese THCs; therefore, this programs can improve the expertise of poorly educated young health workers, who overwhelm rural Chinese heath systems.

Is a decentralized continuing medical education program feasible for Chinese rural health professionals?

“…The questionnaire for the Second National Survey of Demographic Data and Training Demand for Health Workers in Township Health Centres by the Chinese Ministry of Health in 2011 was adapted for this study. A previous study has confirmed good validity and reliability of this questionnaire[ 6 ].…”

“…The majority of health workers was young and had attained a secondary technical or junior college education. A strong perceived need to upgrade their educational degrees through CME programs was reported in a previous study [ 6 ]. However, the barriers, including lack of time to study and insufficient funding hindered them from participating in such programs.…”

Education to Prepare Health Professionals for Rural Practice

“…Community proximity allows for a more holistic understanding of the interface between health and social factors. Health professional students and facilitators acknowledge that rural health is predicated upon different systems, structures, regulations (Jackman et al, 2016;Pillay et al, 2016;Yi et al, 2015), economic (Reid et al, 2011), education (Yi et al, 2015) and policy differences (Kitchener, 2013;London & Burton, 2018) that require students to think and understand health differently due to the distinctive health needs, different types of facilities and limited resources (Pillay et al, 2016;Stilp & Reynolds, 2019). The generalist (Jackman et al, 2016), transdisciplinary nature of rural health roles (Pillay et al, 2016) is characterised by overlapping of roles and responsibilities owing to the decreased number and diversity of health roles in rural areas.…”

Needs Assessment For Continuing Professional Education Among Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons: Evidence From An Economically Developed Region in China

“…There have been various training programs available for the aesthetic plastic surgeons in recent years, which include conference sessions, further clinical education in tertiary hospitals, operation demonstrations, and online training courses. But almost all those programs are organized and dictated by hospitals or organizations, the needs of learners have rarely been assessed [10]. As Goldstein training mode suggests that training candidates, training contents, organizational requirements be the three important factors while in designing a good health training program [11].…”