Seven survey respondents provided 9 examples of changes they planned to make in their practices (Table 2). Table 2 Ten telephone interviewees reported several attributes of the OJC which confirmed the general utility of the online course for these participants (Table 3). Table 3 Illustrative comment: “I find myself often... wondering... am I being up to date here or... it’s been a while since I have seen a patient and... handled that kind of problem so, is this the appropriate management strategy? … you often try and talk to a colleague, well I don’t have a colleague, so this is a way to validate that I was practicing in an up to date sort of manner.” – Participant #16 (a rural participant) The OJC framework reported here proved to be a feasible and clinically useful pedagogical structure for the participants’ learning This pedagogical structure was reported clinically useful for continuing education in psychotherapy The OJC format appears to be useful for psychotherapy CME for psychiatrists who are either too remote or too busy to participate in more traditional group learning formats The structured online journal club (OJC) program was developed using a moderated online discussion board embedded within a web-based Learning Management System called Blackboard (TM). Participants and moderators discussed the content of practice-related journal articles using an asynchronous online discussion board program (i.e. participants do not need to be in direct communication at the same time). 5 consecutive conference periods of 5 – 6 weeks each were scheduled over a 9 month period. There were 4 journal articles during each conference period, one for each of the 4 content areas of psychotherapy, general psychiatry, child & adolescent, and geriatric psychiatry for discussion. The program followed Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada guidelines for journal clubs and for online programs which include: a planning committee, registration process, needs assessment, learning objectives, a planned series of meetings, record keeping, and formal evaluation process. Learning Materials: PDF files of journal articles were posted on Blackboard (where copyright permissions were granted). However to keep within current Canadian copyright law, paper copies of most articles were sent by post and copyright fees were paid on the paper copies. Thirty-four psychiatrists registered for the OJC in the 2005/6 academic year for which complete evaluation data are available. Eighteen registrants participated in the five psychotherapy discussions, and 17 returned a total of 26 evaluation surveys over the course of the discussions (Table 1). Table 1 The majority of responses (88%) indicated that the articles studied met participants’ learning needs; information provided by facilitators was useful (93%); discussion with other participants clarified understanding of the article (89%) and helped in applying the information to practice (74%). In addition, survey respondents indicated that they learned about clinical practice outside of the topic of the article from the other participants (78%). Program Description An online journal club (OJC) using a discussion board format has been used over six years to address learning needs of psychiatrists in practice in Western Canada. The primary purpose is to provide a venue for learning through interpersonal interaction for psychiatrists with time and distance constraints. (See program description in handout and in box to right) One component of this program has focused on psychotherapy topics A formative evaluation of the project was carried out in and informed this report, which focuses on the results relating to the psychotherapy discussions Primary objective: to assess participant satisfaction and utilization of the program in their continuing education Secondary objectives: to determine participant opinions about the clinical utility of the content & to elicit examples of the application in their learning Study design Evaluation approach: A mixed method approach incorporating quantitative (document analysis and closed survey questions) and qualitative (open survey questions and telephone interviews) methodology was used. Document analysis (registration records) was used to determine the attendance of registrants at the five conference periods. Evaluation surveys were sent to registrants at the end of each of the five online conferences to evaluate each individual conference period and also at the end of the course to evaluate the whole course. Thus the total number of returned surveys exceeds the number of participants. For the interviews, a random selection of registrants were chosen and approached by the course chair to request their participation in telephone interviews. The interviewees were asked to review a written description of the process and sign a consent form for the interview. A semi-structured interview format was used. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for themes. Member checking was used as a method of validity. In this process the interview analyses results were shared with the interviewees to determine their impressions of the accuracy of the results. The analysis was revised in accordance with the interviewees’ impressions. Background Psychotherapy CME using an Online Journal Club J. Steven Simpson, Diane J. Simpson & Kathleen E. Pierson Department of Psychiatry and Office of Continuing Medical Education & Professional Development, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada Methods Conclusions Objectives Results QuestionUnsatisfactory Partly Satisfactory Satisfactory Very Satisfactory Extremely Satisfactory No Opinion/ No Answer The article(s) chosen for the conference met my learning needs (N=26) 4%8%35%38%15%0% QuestionNot UsefulPartly UsefulUsefulVery UsefulExtremely Useful No Opinion/ No Answer Information provided by moderators on these topics was useful. (N=26) 0%7%33% 26%0% The online discussion with the other participants was useful in clarifying my understanding of the journal article. (N=26) 0%11%30%33%26%0% The online discussion with the other participants was helpful in applying the content of the journal article to my clinical practice. (N=26) 11%15%22%37%15%0% The online discussion with the other participants was helpful in learning about clinical practice outside of the topic of the journal article. (N=26) 0%22%26%30%22%0% QuestionNo change Seek More Information Make Changes No Opinion/ No Answer As a result of the article discussions I plan to make changes in my practice. (N=26) 33% 30%4% Examples of stated changes to psychotherapy practice  Consider group psychotherapy for less psychologically minded people  Will likely involve families of my borderline personality disorders in treatment  Increased confidence to pursue a parent group for adolescents with traits of borderline personality disorder  Was able to apply knowledge gained in a psychotherapy discussion to a patient negotiating with his company to return to work  Gained new strategies from the other participants in working with personality disordered patients FeaturesAttributes Indicated by Interviewees Reduced Practice Isolation  Affirmation of current practice  Development of a community of practice  Consult with peers  Reduced geographic isolation Accessibility/ Convenience  Accessibility for learners with disabilities (reduced hearing)  Flexible time scheduling  Work out of own home or office, no travel required  Cost effective method of obtaining continuing professional development credits Advantages of Group Learning over Individual Study of Articles  Access to an increased scope and variety of literature  Sharing of clinical practice ideas  Stimulating and involved conversation  Facilitated understanding of the article Overall Quality of the Learning Experience  Deep learning encouraged  Reflection and introspection stimulated by discussion and format  Stimulated reading outside of the course Objectives