The specific aims are to investigate the following questions:
Research Question 1: What is the best communication method (mail alone, mail + follow-up phone call, or mail + follow-up email) to recruit physicians to participate in any one of the three TOEP programs?
Hypothesis 1.1: Physicians notified by mail + follow-up telephone call, or mail + follow-up email methods will be more aware of, and participate in TOEP than physicians notified by mail only.
Hypothesis 1.2: Physicians notified by mail + follow-up telephone calls by a TOEP staff member will be more likely to participate in TOEP than those notified by mail only.
Hypothesis 1.3: Physicians contacted via mail + follow-up email will be more likely to participate in web-based training.
Research Question 2: Which method do physicians prefer when earning continuing medical education hours: live lectures, videotaped lectures or interactive web-based training?
Hypothesis 2.1: Physicians practicing in communities with populations less than 5,000 (isolated settings), will prefer attending live TOEP training.
Hypothesis 2.2: Physicians who participate in CME events to maintain social relationships will be likely to prefer live lecture TOEP training.
Hypothesis 2.3: Physicians who are self-directed will prefer web-based TOEP training.
Hypothesis 2.4: Physicians who are proficient computer users will prefer web-based TOEP training.
Hypothesis 2.5: More recent medical school graduates will be more computer literate, and will prefer web-based TOEP training than earlier medical school graduates.
Hypothesis 2.6: Physicians who live near a live CME training site prefer attending the live TOEP course.
Hypothesis 2.7: Physicians who participated in web-based CME training previously will prefer web-based TOEP training.
Hypothesis 2.8: Physicians who prefer learning through concrete, hands on experience, will prefer web-based TOEP training.
Hypothesis 2.9: Physicians who prefer learning by observations will prefer jounal-based CME training.
Hypothesis 2.10: Physicians who prefer learning by creating theories based on observations will prefer live or videotaped TOEP lectures.
Hypothesis 2.11: Physicians whose colleagues participate in web-based training will also prefer web-based TOEP training. |