Hepatitis C education needs of rural general practitioners working in northern New South Wales.

Objective: To assess hepatitis C continuing medical education (CME) needs of GPs working in rural northern New South Wales (NSW). Methods: Anonymous reply paid postal questionnaires sent to all 634 GPs working in northern NSW in August 2000 with a follow-up in September 2000. Data were analysed using descriptive and χ2statistics for association. Results: Two hundred and ninety-two GPs replied (response rate 46.1%). Sixty-three per cent of respondents were aware of hepatitis C management protocols. Hepatitis C information was most accessed by reading written material (93%), attending seminars (63%) and using the protocol (57%).  Rural GPs need to balance hepatitis C education with other competing topics. We found restricted access to CME in rural areas with GPs requesting a greater range of delivery modes. Conclusions: GPs have an increasing role in hepatitis C management. Hepatitis C CME must be balanced against GPs’ patient load, interest and competing learning needs. What is already known on this topic: Recent Australian policies recommend increasing management of hepatitis C in primary care to improve equity of access of health services.  Educational resources and protocols have been distributed to all GPs in Australia to support this changing model of care.  There is limited evidence that interactive CME can change professional behaviour with didactic sessions showing limited impact. What this paper adds: Sixty-three per cent of respondents were aware of hepatitis C management protocols.  Hepatitis C information was most accessed by reading written material (93%), attending seminars (63%) and using the protocol (57%).  Rural GPs need to balance hepatitis C education with other competing topics.  We found restricted access to CME in rural areas with GPs requesting a greater range of delivery modes.