Can Online Medical Education Improve Management of Challenging Cases of Onychomycosis?

The document reports on a study that assessed the impact of online continuing medical education (CME) on physicians' knowledge and competence in managing onychomycosis, a fungal nail infection. The CME activity used consequence-based learning and involved dermatologists and primary care physicians (PCPs) who answered clinical decision and knowledge assessment questions related to onychomycosis patient cases. The study found that dermatologists showed a 12% to 43% improvement in clinical decision-making after receiving tailored feedback, with a notable 44% improvement in seeking laboratory-confirmed diagnoses. Their knowledge also improved significantly from 17% answering all questions correctly pre-CME to 78% post-CME. Similarly, PCPs showed a 20% to 40% improvement in clinical decision-making and an increase from 6% to 75% in answering all knowledge questions correctly post-CME. The study concluded that online CME using problem- and consequence-based learning effectively improves physicians' clinical decisions and knowledge in treating onychomycosis. The study involved 478 dermatologists and 909 PCPs, indicating a strong study due to the large number of participants. The CME activity was launched on March 26, 2015, and data were collected for 91 days. The study was supported by an independent educational grant from Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America, LLC.