SynthesisBMC medical education2017
Effectiveness of distance learning strategies for continuing professional development (CPD) for rural allied health practitioners: a systematic review.
Synthesis in BMC medical education, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 35 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
35 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Evidence for continuing professional development standards for regulated health practitioners in Australia: a systematic review.Human resources for health · 2023Pooled it
- Effects of E-Learning in a Continuing Education Context on Nursing Care: Systematic Review of Systematic Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed-Studies Reviews.Journal of medical Internet research · 2019Pooled it
- Perspectives of Oral Health Practitioners Working in Rural New South Wales: Culture, Wellbeing and Workforce Sustainability.Australian dental journal · 2026Article
- Continuing medical education in crisis: regulatory adaptations, digital acceleration, and insights from Armenia.Human resources for health · 2026Article
- Evaluating the knowledge and usage of digital health tools in rural Oyo State, Nigeria: a cross-sectional study of healthcare professionals and residents.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Mapping the impact, sustainability and pedagogical frameworks of international virtual knowledge exchanges in global health: Protocol for a scoping review.Gates open research · 2025Article
- Attitudes of medical students in Croatia toward rural medicine education and practice.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- The experience of occupational therapists and physiotherapists using a prototype, evidence-informed online knowledge translation resource to learn about patient-defined, personally-meaningful chronic pain rehabilitation.British journal of pain · 2024Article
- Continuing professional development barriers and recommendations: Perspectives of audiologists.The South African journal of communication disorders = Die Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir Kommunikasieafwykings · 2024Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on continuing professional development: Perspectives of audiologists.South African family practice : official journal of the South African Academy of Family Practice/Primary Care · 2024Article
- Virtual platform to tackle challenges associated with lifelong medical education during the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC medical education · 2024Observational
- Impact of Educational Activity Formats, Online or In-Person, on the Intention of Medical Specialists to Adopt a Clinical Behaviour: A Comparative Study.Journal of CME · 2024Article
- Education and Training Adaptations for Health Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Scoping Review of Lessons Learned and Innovations.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Australian medical radiation practitioners perspectives of continuing professional development: An online cross-sectional study.Journal of medical radiation sciences · 2023Article
- Impact and evaluation of an online culinary nutrition course for health, education and industry professionals to promote vegetable knowledge and consumption.Journal of human nutrition and dietetics : the official journal of the British Dietetic Association · 2023Article
- The MidPIC study: Midwives' knowledge, perspectives and learning needs regarding preconception and interconception care.PloS one · 2023Article
- Online learning for continuous professional development of healthcare workers: an exploratory study on perceptions of healthcare managers in Rwanda.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Learning Design Strategies in MOOCs for Physicians' Training: A Scoping Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Application of the electronic book to promote self-directed learning in medical technologist continuing education: a cross-sectional study.BMC medical education · 2022Article
- Management of Complications After Bariatric Surgery: a Survey of Comfort and Educational Needs of General Surgeons in Ontario, Canada.Obesity surgery · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAllied health professionals working in rural areas face unique challenges, often with limited access to resources. Accessing continuing professional development is one of those challenges and is related to retention of workforce. Effectiveness of distance learning strategies for continuing professional development in rural allied healthcare workers has not been evaluated.
methodsWe searched 17 databases and the grey literature up to September 2016 following the PRISMA guidelines. Any primary studies were included that focussed on allied health and distance delivery regardless of education topic or study design. Two independent reviewers extracted data and critically appraised the selected studies.
resultsThe search returned 5257 results. With removal of duplicate references, we reviewed 3964 article titles and abstracts; n = 206 appeared potentially eligible and were scrutinised via full text screening; n = 14 were included. Studies were published between 1997 and 2016, were of varied methodological quality and were predominantly from Australia, USA and Canada with a focus on satisfaction of learners with the delivery method or on measures of educational outcomes. Technologies used to deliver distance education included video conference, teleconference, web based platforms and virtual reality. Early papers tended to focus more on the technology characteristics than educational outcomes. Some studies compared technology based delivery to face to face modes and found satisfaction and learning outcomes to be on par. Only three studies reported on practice change following the educational intervention and, despite a suggestion there is a link between the constructs, none measured the relationship between access to continuing professional development and workforce retention.
conclusionTechnology based options of delivery have a high utility, however the complex inter-relatedness of time, use, travel, location, costs, interactivity, learning outcomes and educational design suggest a need for more sophisticated consideration by educational providers.
trial registrationRegistration with PROSPERO 30 June 2016: CRD42016041588 .
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.