Exploring Factors of Physicians' Preferences for Continuing Medical Education

Abstract Background Achieving sustainability in continuing medical education (CME) involves regular assessment of the evolving needs of healthcare professionals and updates in educational content accordingly. The aim of this study was to examine the topics physicians in Serbia consider the most important for their professional development and to analyze the factors associated with different domains of the competencies identified by the physicians Method This cross-sectional study was conducted among 2,625 physicians who are members of the medical chamber in Serbia. Besides similar studies, the Delphi process among medical experts served to create the research instruments, while obtained data were analyzed using factor analysis and robust regression analysis. Results The results pointed to a significant association between the scores in all identified domains (management, clinical practice, communication, public health, essentials and clinical emergency) and female gender. The score in the communication domain was additionally associated with work in privately owned institutions (B=0.563). The scores in the public health domain and the basic medical skills (essentials domain) were additionally associated with age (B=0.077 and B=0.100), work in a primary healthcare institution (B=2.327 and B=2.155) and being a specialist (B=-1.795 and B=-2.901). The score on the clinical emergency domain, besides the female gender, was associated with work in primary health care (B=0.748), being a specialist (B=-1.592) and being a subspecialist (B=-1.023). Conclusion Our results can serve as a guide for developing sustainable CMEs directed to different physician populations. Integrating sustainability into CME is an ongoing and collaborative effort which ensures that CME programs equip medical professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to spearhead the transition towards a more sustainable healthcare system.