Self-reported preferences and barriers to continued professional development in primary care physicians: a cross-sectional web-based survey in Qatar.

INTRODUCTION: High quality and effective primary healthcare is a national priority in Qatar. Continuing professional development (CPD) for physicians is a cornerstone of this objective, yet little is known about physicians' preferences or barriers to CPD participation. METHOD: A needs assessment was conducted using a cross-sectional web-based survey of primary care physicians registered with the Department of Healthcare Practitioners (DHP) between March and June 2017. RESULTS: Two-hundred-and-eighty-one complete surveys were submitted representing physicians in both public (N = 129) and private sectors (N = 152). Physicians completed medical degrees and postgraduate training across multiple countries, and most had been practicing in Qatar for 5 years or less. 'Activities during working hours', 'cost' and 'work commitments' were the most common barriers. There was little consensus regarding the optimal timing of CPD activities, although public sector physicians were more likely to indicate weekend activities as a barrier to participation (30% vs. 9%). Over 90% of participants preferred traditional lectures, workshops, case-based sessions, small group and online self-paced learning as formats for CPD delivery, however alternative modes of delivery were also deemed acceptable (> 80% agreement). CONCLUSION: Understanding primary care physicians' barriers and preferences is an essential component of a larger necessitated needs assessment of CPD in primary care practitioners in Qatar. Further research is warranted to understand the underlying beliefs driving physicians' choices and the apparent variation between those working in the public and private sectors. CPD developers should consider approaches to mitigate perceived barriers and understand preferences to maximize the quality of participation.

Knowledge, Awareness, and Attitude of Healthcare Stakeholders on Alzheimer's Disease and Dementia in Qatar.

Dementia is characterized by progressive cognitive decline, memory impairment, and disability. Alzheimer's disease (AD) accounts for 60-70% of cases, followed by vascular and mixed dementia. Qatar and the Middle East are at increased risk owing to aging populations and high prevalence of vascular risk factors. Appropriate levels of knowledge, attitudes, and awareness amongst health care professionals (HCPs) are the need of the hour, but literature indicates that these proficiencies may be inadequate, outdated, or markedly heterogenous. In addition to a review of published quantitative surveys investigating similar questions in the Middle East, a pilot cross-sectional online needs-assessment survey was undertaken to gauge these parameters of dementia and AD among healthcare stakeholders in Qatar between 19 April and 16 May 2022. Overall, 229 responses were recorded between physicians (21%), nurses (21%), and medical students (25%), with two-thirds from Qatar. Over half the respondents reported that >10% of their patients were elderly (>60 years). Over 25% reported having contact with >50 patients with dementia or neurodegenerative disease annually. Over 70% had not undertake related education/training in the last 2 years. The knowledge of HCPs regarding dementia and AD was moderate (mean score of 5.3 ± 1.5 out of 7) and their awareness of recent advances in basic disease pathophysiology was lacking. Differences existed across professions and location of respondents. Our findings lay the groundwork for a call-to-action for healthcare institutions to improve dementia care within Qatar and the Middle East region.

Remediation of learners struggling with communication skills: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Communication skills is a core area of competency for healthcare practitioners. However, trainees deficient in those skills are not identified early enough to address the deficiency. Furthermore, faculty often struggle to identify effective remediation strategies for those who fail to meet expectations. We undertook a systematic review to determine which assessment methods are appropriate to identify learners that struggle with communication skills and the strategies used to remediate them. METHODS: The literature was searched from January 1998 through to May 2019 using academic databases and grey literature. Trainees were defined as healthcare practitioners in undergraduate, graduate and continuing education. Characteristics of studies, assessment and intervention strategies and outcomes were synthesized qualitatively and summarized in tables. RESULTS: From an initial 1636 records, 16 (1%) studies met the review criteria. Majority of the learners were medical students. A few studies (44%) included students from other disciplines, residents and physicians in practice. The remediation programs, in the studies, ranged from 1 week to 1 year. Around half of the studies focused solely on learners struggling with communication skills. The majority of studies used a format of a clinical OSCE to identify struggling learners. None of the studies had a single intervention strategy with the majority including an experiential component with feedback. CONCLUSIONS: A few studies collectively described the diagnosis, remediation intervention and the assessment of the outcomes of remediation of communication skills. For a remediation strategy to be successful it is important to ensure: (i) early identification and diagnosis, (ii) the development of an individualized plan and (iii) providing reassessment with feedback to the learner.