Brief Continuing Medical Education (CME) Module Raises Knowledge of Developing Country Physicians

摘要

Breast cancer incidence in Pakistan is the highest reported in any South-Central Asian country. It is the most frequent malignancy in women, where it accounts for 38.5% of all female cancers. About half (43.7%) of all breast cancers are locally advanced. We recruited 183 primary care physicians in Pakistan and invited them to attend educational conferences using an educational module about breast cancer risk factors, diagnosis, and management. We tested the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of physicians. Knowledge was tested before and after the educational module. Data analysis determined the effect of demographics, medical education, and prior training of physicians on modulating the differences in knowledge between pre-test and post-test evaluations. Our analysis showed a statistical significance in overall improvement for all knowledge based questions in detection, management and referral of breast cancer (P=0.0001). The additional knowledge provided from the continuing medical education sessions contributed to improvement in knowledge of the physicians. Improved knowledge about early breast cancer detection may improve patient referral and survival. Results from this study could be used to guide the implementation of future cancer continuing medical education programs for primary care physicians in developing countries.