Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study
BackgroundMany national medical governing bodies encourage physicians to engage in continuing professional development (CPD) activities to cultivate their knowledge and skills to ensure their clinical practice reflects the current standards and evidence base. However, physici...
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JMIR Publications
2025-07-01
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| Series: | JMIR Medical Education |
| Online Access: | https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e69443 |
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| author | Peter Slinger Maram Omar Sarah Younus Rebecca Charow Michael Baxter Craig Campbell Meredith Giuliani Jesse Goldmacher Tharshini Jeyakumar Inaara Karsan Janet Papadakos Tina Papadakos Alexandra Jane Rotstein May-Sann Yee Asad Siddiqui Marcos Silva Restrepo Melody Zhang David Wiljer |
| author_facet | Peter Slinger Maram Omar Sarah Younus Rebecca Charow Michael Baxter Craig Campbell Meredith Giuliani Jesse Goldmacher Tharshini Jeyakumar Inaara Karsan Janet Papadakos Tina Papadakos Alexandra Jane Rotstein May-Sann Yee Asad Siddiqui Marcos Silva Restrepo Melody Zhang David Wiljer |
| author_sort | Peter Slinger |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description |
BackgroundMany national medical governing bodies encourage physicians to engage in continuing professional development (CPD) activities to cultivate their knowledge and skills to ensure their clinical practice reflects the current standards and evidence base. However, physicians often encounter various barriers that hinder their participation in CPD programs, such as time constraints, a lack of centralized coordination, and limited opportunities for self-assessment. The literature has highlighted the strength of using question-based learning interventions to augment physician learning and further enable change in practice. CPD By the Minute (CPD-Min) is a smartphone-enabled web-based app that was developed to address self-assessment gaps and barriers to engagement in CPD activities.
ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the app using four objectives: (1) engagement and use of the app throughout the study, (2) effectiveness of this tool as a CPD activity, (3) relevance of the disseminated information to physicians’ practice, and (4) acceptability to physicians of this novel tool as an educational initiative.
MethodsThe CPD-Min app disseminated 2 multiple-choice questions (1-min each) each week with feedback and references. Participants included licensed staff physicians, fellows, and residents across Canada. A concurrent multimethods study was conducted, consisting of preintervention and postintervention surveys, semistructured interviews, and app analytics. Guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework, the qualitative data were analyzed deductively and inductively.
ResultsOf the 105 Canadian anesthesiologists participating in the study, 89 (84.8%) were staff physicians, 12 (11.4%) were fellows, and 4 (3.8%) were residents. Participants completed 110 questions each over the course of 52 weeks, with an average completion rate of 75% (SD 33%). In total, 40.9% (43/105) of participants answered >90% of the questions, including 15.2% (16/105) who completed all questions. Moreover, 69% (52/75) of participants reported the app to be an effective and valuable resource for their practice and to enhance continuous learning. Most participants (63/75, 84%) who completed the postsurveys reported that they would likely continue using the app as a CPD tool. These findings were further supported by the interview data. Three key themes were identified: the practical design of the novel educational app facilitates its adoption by clinicians, the app was perceived as a useful knowledge tool for continuous learning, and the app’s low-stakes testing environment cultivated independent learning attitudes.
ConclusionsThe findings suggest the potential of the app to improve longitudinal assessments that promote lifelong learning among clinicians. The positive feedback and increased acceptance of the app supports it as an innovative tool for knowledge retention and CPD. Future research efforts should prioritize evaluating the app’s long-term sustainability and its impact on physicians’ practice, as well as exploring alternative approaches (such as artificial intelligence–based tools) for generating questions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ca71574653bc4cafa3e9820b91fedaf4 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2369-3762 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | JMIR Publications |
| record_format | Article |
| series | JMIR Medical Education |
| spelling | doaj-art-ca71574653bc4cafa3e9820b91fedaf42025-08-20T02:47:04ZengJMIR PublicationsJMIR Medical Education2369-37622025-07-0111e6944310.2196/69443Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods StudyPeter Slingerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-2292-8654Maram Omarhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-5358-4757Sarah Younushttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-0728-7628Rebecca Charowhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8553-4006Michael Baxterhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4006-5031Craig Campbellhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9339-3410Meredith Giulianihttps://orcid.org/0000-0003-1827-5590Jesse Goldmacherhttps://orcid.org/0009-0008-2601-903XTharshini Jeyakumarhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-4482-3637Inaara Karsanhttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-9182-0300Janet Papadakoshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6320-4156Tina Papadakoshttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-8215-8810Alexandra Jane Rotsteinhttps://orcid.org/0009-0000-4380-2431May-Sann Yeehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5442-6822Asad Siddiquihttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-7795-8231Marcos Silva Restrepohttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-9884-9357Melody Zhanghttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-6341-1024David Wiljerhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2748-2658 BackgroundMany national medical governing bodies encourage physicians to engage in continuing professional development (CPD) activities to cultivate their knowledge and skills to ensure their clinical practice reflects the current standards and evidence base. However, physicians often encounter various barriers that hinder their participation in CPD programs, such as time constraints, a lack of centralized coordination, and limited opportunities for self-assessment. The literature has highlighted the strength of using question-based learning interventions to augment physician learning and further enable change in practice. CPD By the Minute (CPD-Min) is a smartphone-enabled web-based app that was developed to address self-assessment gaps and barriers to engagement in CPD activities. ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess the app using four objectives: (1) engagement and use of the app throughout the study, (2) effectiveness of this tool as a CPD activity, (3) relevance of the disseminated information to physicians’ practice, and (4) acceptability to physicians of this novel tool as an educational initiative. MethodsThe CPD-Min app disseminated 2 multiple-choice questions (1-min each) each week with feedback and references. Participants included licensed staff physicians, fellows, and residents across Canada. A concurrent multimethods study was conducted, consisting of preintervention and postintervention surveys, semistructured interviews, and app analytics. Guided by the Reach, Effectiveness, Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework, the qualitative data were analyzed deductively and inductively. ResultsOf the 105 Canadian anesthesiologists participating in the study, 89 (84.8%) were staff physicians, 12 (11.4%) were fellows, and 4 (3.8%) were residents. Participants completed 110 questions each over the course of 52 weeks, with an average completion rate of 75% (SD 33%). In total, 40.9% (43/105) of participants answered >90% of the questions, including 15.2% (16/105) who completed all questions. Moreover, 69% (52/75) of participants reported the app to be an effective and valuable resource for their practice and to enhance continuous learning. Most participants (63/75, 84%) who completed the postsurveys reported that they would likely continue using the app as a CPD tool. These findings were further supported by the interview data. Three key themes were identified: the practical design of the novel educational app facilitates its adoption by clinicians, the app was perceived as a useful knowledge tool for continuous learning, and the app’s low-stakes testing environment cultivated independent learning attitudes. ConclusionsThe findings suggest the potential of the app to improve longitudinal assessments that promote lifelong learning among clinicians. The positive feedback and increased acceptance of the app supports it as an innovative tool for knowledge retention and CPD. Future research efforts should prioritize evaluating the app’s long-term sustainability and its impact on physicians’ practice, as well as exploring alternative approaches (such as artificial intelligence–based tools) for generating questions.https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e69443 |
| spellingShingle | Peter Slinger Maram Omar Sarah Younus Rebecca Charow Michael Baxter Craig Campbell Meredith Giuliani Jesse Goldmacher Tharshini Jeyakumar Inaara Karsan Janet Papadakos Tina Papadakos Alexandra Jane Rotstein May-Sann Yee Asad Siddiqui Marcos Silva Restrepo Melody Zhang David Wiljer Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study JMIR Medical Education |
| title | Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study |
| title_full | Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study |
| title_fullStr | Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study |
| title_short | Innovative Mobile App (CPD By the Minute) for Continuing Professional Development in Medicine: Multimethods Study |
| title_sort | innovative mobile app cpd by the minute for continuing professional development in medicine multimethods study |
| url | https://mededu.jmir.org/2025/1/e69443 |
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