The Journal of Medical Education and Development

Introduction: In Continuing Medical Education (CME), paying attention to professional empowerment on the basis of community needs and learners’ institutional requirements is necessary. This study was conducted to determine continuing CME priorities of midwifery graduates employed in health and treatment centers of Kashan and Aran & Bidgol cities located in central Iran (2010).

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 71 midwives. A questionnaire including 87 educational items in 6 subjects was designed. Every item was scored on a Likert scale ranging from zero to ten. Data were extracted, classified and analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: Of the six subjects raised, gynecology (7.89±1.54) had the highest score and fundamentals of nursing (6.05±2.35) had the lowest score. Among different disease the topics of abnormal genital tract bleeding (9.32±1.3), diabetes mellitus during pregnancy (9.26±1.27), breast cancer (9±1.97), anemia (8.87±1.71), preventing the birth of premature infants (8.44±2.34) and infection control in special units (7.36±3.06), had the highest means, respectively. There was a statistically significant difference between two groups of midwives employed in health centers and treatment centers regarding the need for learning some subjects.

Conclusion: The need for CME priorities varied according to functional domains. This is essential to be considered by decision makers.