Continuing Professional Development in Rheumatology for Primary Care Clinicians: A Systematic Review

Objective: To determine the quality of published rheumatology-focused continuing professional development (CPD) for primary care clinicians (PCCs) for improving the care of patients with rheumatic diseases. Methods: The authors conducted a systematic review of CPD focused on rheumatology topics for PCCs. A librarian systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, ERIC, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. Studies were limited to those conducted in North America after 1993. An extraction form that included the Medical Education Research Study Quality Instrument and the Kirkpatrick levels of learning outcomes was created through an iterative process and applied to the included articles. Results: 725 articles were retrieved, of which nine were included. Results showed that CPD was directed more at non-inflammatory arthritis than inflammatory arthritis. Autoimmune diseases were underrepresented; four studies discussed rheumatoid arthritis, and one study examined rheumatologic topics broadly. Newer research tended to include multi-modal approaches that combined didactic and active learning strategies, showing an evolution towards more active learning. Though online learning is increasingly popular, interventions were predominantly face-to-face with only a single example of e-learning. Studies were predominantly of moderate quality. Conclusion: Published studies of rheumatology-focused CPD are moving towards more interactive teaching modalities and are typically conducted in-person though virtual options for rheumatology-focused CPD should be explored to improve access to CPD. Autoimmune disease is an uncommon topic in CPD and represents an area for future expansion. Efficacy was difficult to assess given that most of the studies assessed for learner satisfaction, knowledge acquisition, or behavior change, whereas only one focused on patient outcomes.