Performance-Based Individualized Educational Applications of the Computer in Continuing Medical Education

Abstract

Computers may have greatest educational impact on adult professional learners rather than as delivery devices for Computer Assisted Instruction in undergraduate settings. The applications of computers to medical education is reviewed with emphasis on recent application of computer capabilities to provide practicing physicians with memory support, profiles of practice for needs assessment, and diagnostic/management algorithms. The strategy of providing physicians with ongoing practice-related feedback in the form of confidential review of their prescribing practices is described as a model of an educational intervention which can be readily adapted to computer technology and would facilitate professional growth in adult learners which would be both timely and directly related to individual practice behaviors.