Continuing Medical Education Needs Assessment of General Physicians Working at Tabriz Health Centers in 2014

The aim of this study was to identify the educational needs of General Physicians working in the health centers of Tabriz in 2014. The study method was descriptive. The statistical population was 2,024. Of the population of the study, 322 physicians were randomly selected. In order to gather the data, the Delphi method and a researcher-made questionnaire were used in 14 domains of medicine, including: Communicable and Infectious Diseases, Non-communicable Diseases, Health Education, Mental and Social Health, Dental and Oral Health, Medical Procedures, Population and Family, Nutritional Health, Occupational Health, Environmental Health, Complementary Procedures, Health Crisis and Disasters, Laboratory and Drugs, and Alternative Medicine. The validity of the study was confirmed with the viewpoint of the Delphi team and the reliability was confirmed with the Alpha Cronbach (r = 0.84). For data analysis, we used descriptive statistic methods like frequency, percentage and mean, and the Friedman ranking test (calculated using SPSS v. 21). The results showed that the first-ranked educational needs of every domain were the following (in order of domain listed above): respiratory infection, hypertension, healthy lifestyle, stress management, dental growth and care in children, raising hope and pleasure, weight and nutritional control, occupational health and safety, water hygiene, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, therapeutic exercises, natural disasters’ primary cares, rational use of drugs and traditional medicine. The first domain receiving the first rank of educational needs was non-communicable diseases, and the conformity range of implemented plans in continuing medical education with need assessment results was 53.84%.