1. Professional Education Task Force Patrick Lyden, MD Collin Rorrie, PhD Susan Hickenbottom, MD, MS Ed Sloan, MD, MPH Richard Atkinson, MD Judith Spilker, RN Lisa Davis, RN, MSN Robert Suter, DO, MHA Jeremy Golding, MD Steven Warach, MD, PhD Judith Hinchey, MD Kurt Kleinschmidt, MD Thomas Kwiatkowski, MD Christopher Lewandowski, MD

2. Principles of Adult Education • Must be motivated to learn • Need a relevant use for the knowledge or skill being sought • Prefer learning concepts and principles • Prefer an active curriculum that is learner-based • Like feedback on their own performance

3. Deficiencies in Professional Education • Ultimate goal of education is behavioral change • Traditional continuing education methods alone have been found ineffective • Didactic lectures • Journal articles

4. Effectiveness of Interventions • Most effective • Reminders (at point of service/need) • Patient-mediated strategies • Outreach visits • Opinion leaders • Multiple, sequenced interventions sustained over time • Moderately effective • Audit and feedback • Educational material • Least effective • Formal CME conferences or activities Davis, JAMA 1995;274:700-705

5. Deficiencies in Professional Education • Poorly targeted • Narrowly focused • Environmental barriers • Increased service requirements and decreased on-job time for learning/teaching • ED crowding • Nursing shortage and lack of nurse educators and mentors

6. Strategies for Improving Professional Education • Audience • Method • Content • Support

7. Strategies for Improving Professional Education: Audience • Identify gaps in knowledge and performance (needs assessment) • Target audiences with interventions appropriate to knowledge level EMS Physicians assistants Medical students Nurse practitioners Nursing students Physicians Residents Other health care providers Nurses

8. Strategies for Improving Professional Education: Method • Change the approach to continuing education • Provide interactive learning opportunities • May include introductory materials • Case studies • Web and PDA based • Multimodal activities sustained over time

9. Strategies for Improving Professional Education: Content • Expand the content of acute stroke education • “Soup to nuts” approach • Consistent and updated guidelines • National organizations help to develop integrated stroke curricula

10. Strategies for Improving Professional Education: Support • Institutional • Organizational “buy-in” • Funding • Needs assessment • Validating and measuring adherence to guidelines • Evaluating effectiveness of educational interventions

11. Summary of Recommendations • Content development • Delivery consistent with educational principles • Financial support for educational interventions