摘要：Background: The amount of medical education offered through the Internet continues to increase, providing
unprecedented access for physicians nationwide. However, the process of evaluating these activities is ongoing. This
study is a continuation of an earlier report that found online continuing medical education (CME) to be highly effective
in making evidence-based decisions.
Methods: To determine the effectiveness of 114 Internet CME activities, case vignette-based surveys were
administered to U.S.-practicing physicians immediately following participation, and to a representative control group
of non-participants. Survey responses were analyzed based on evidence presented in the content of CME activities. An
effect size for each activity was calculated using Cohen's d to determine the amount of difference between the two
groups in the likelihood of making evidence-based clinical decisions.
Results: In a sample of 17,142 U.S. physicians, of the more than 350,000 physicians who participated in 114 activities,
the average effect size was 0.82. This indicates an increased likelihood of 48% that physicians participating in online
activities were making clinical choices based on evidence.
Conclusion: Physicians who participated in online CME activities continue to be more likely to make evidence-based
clinical choices than non-participants in response to clinical case vignettes.
