Effects of Continuing Medical Education on Emergency Trainees' Rare Disease Knowledge and Attitude: A Single-Center Study

BMC Medical Education (04/16/25) Liu, Anlei; Hao, Wenlin; Xu, Jun; et al.

A retrospective study evaluated emergency physicians' knowledge of rare diseases (RDs) and the effects of continuing medical education (CME) on their knowledge and attitudes. In all, 218 emergency physicians completed a questionnaire that covered demographic data, knowledge, and attitudes toward RDs. The participants were then divided into two groups: one that received RD CME training and one that received no training. The vast majority of the respondents (98.2%) said their RD knowledge was inadequate. After the training, the CME group demonstrated greater awareness of RD incidence and better cases analysis; however, their knowledge of RD professional websites only increased slightly. Two-thirds of CME training group participants agreed that CME was the primary path to learning more about RDs, while about 42% of participants in the non-training group said that clinical work was the main way to do so. The study findings demonstrate the general dearth of RD knowledge among emergency physicians but indicate that CME training can bolster their awareness and knowledge of the conditions.

Read More