On-line continuing education—another step forward
From the start of 2007, both the British Journal of Anaesthesia and our continuing medical education (CME) journal Continuing Education in Anaesthesia, Critical Care and Pain (CEACCP) will be making multiple choice questions (MCQs) for CME available on-line through the journals' websites. The BJA has a commitment to providing continuing medical education and we have been at the forefront of the electronic developments in publishing.1 2 The past and present editorial teams have always ensured high-quality and relevant editorials and review articles for the readership. In addition, in July of each year, we publish a Postgraduate CME issue which focuses on a particular topic; this is edited by experts in that field and includes 10–15 high first class review articles. We launched CEACCP in 2000 and this is also published by Oxford University Press, and distributed with the British Journal of Anaesthesia every other month to members of The Royal College of Anaesthetists and to other subscribers. The quality of the short (3000 words) review articles in CEACCP has resulted in this journal being a huge success from its inception and rapidly becoming a source of education and reference for anaesthetists worldwide.From its inception, CEACCP has carried MCQs to accompany each of its articles. From January 2007, the BJA will publish self assessment multiple choice questions to accompany a number of articles. The source material will either be one of the major review articles in that issue or an appropriate original article. From the outset, the MCQs and the source article or review will be made available on the journal's website. At the same time, the MCQs that accompany CEACCP reviews will appear not only in the journal but also on the CEACCP website. However, the answers will only be available on the website. For both journals access to the questions will naturally be free to subscribers, including members of The Royal College of Anaesthetists. The questions published with reviews in the BJA will follow the model already established by CEACCP. They will be designed to test understanding rather than impart new knowledge, and the answers to all of the questions will normally be available in the relevant article. The BJA articles which have CME questions associated with them will have this indicated in the table of contents in the form of a link. Any searches of the BJA or the Oxford Journals site that find these articles will also have a dynamic link to the CME questions. There will also be a link on the BJA homepage to CME.
The MCQs represent a further learning opportunity as they emphasize the key facts contained within each article. Up until now the reader undertaking CEACCP MCQs has had the satisfaction of completing them successfully but there is no formal record of this activity. The web-based format will allow us to offer this. The ‘pass’ mark for the on-line MCQs will be 80%, as they will contain relatively straightforward questions to reinforce the knowledge gained from the article. When the reader has achieved this score and completed the evaluation form, it will be possible to print off a certificate showing that time was spent on this valuable learning exercise as part of personal continuing medical education. This evidence will be suitable for inclusion in personal portfolios and useful for appraisal. When a score of <80% is obtained the user is invited to check the relevant hints and the review article and take the test again to achieve the mark. There is no limit to the number of attempts but the certificate will only be available when 80% is achieved.
This is an exciting new venture for the British Journal of Anaesthesia and enhances the facility already provided by CEACCP. We look forward to its launch and we will be grateful to receive feedback from readers around the world and for comments on the system.
1 CME Editor, British Journal of Anaesthesia, Leeds, UK
2 Editor-in-Chief CEACCP, Leicester, UK
3 Editor-in-Chief, British Journal of Anaesthesia Sheffield, UK
*E-mail: bja{at}sheffield.ac.uk
References
1 Hunter JM. The latest changes...no more shorts. Br J Anaesth 2004; 92:7
2 Reilly CS. British Journal of Anaesthesia: enhancing the author and reader experience. Br J Anaesth 2006; 97:443–4
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