• Nighat Shah, Marium Soomro, Mehjabeen Musharraf, and Shiraz Shaikh.
• Nighat Shah, MBBS, MCPS, FCPS, MRCOG, MHPE, APPNA Institute of Public Health, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, Pakistan.
• Pak J Med Sci. 2019 Mar 1; 35 (2): 555-560.

ObjectivesTo determine the type of CME/CPD sessions attended by doctors, identify the problems with implementation of CME/CPD program and propose possible solutions for successful implementation of CME/CPD Program.MethodsThis was a concurrent triangulation mixed method study. Quantitative questionnaires were filled by faculty and physicians from different specialties. The qualitative component had both focus groups and in depth interviews conducted with different professional bodies (PMA), faculty JSMU, College of Family Physicians. This study was done in 2016-2017.ResultsMore than half of the participants (53.6%) reported that CPD/CME should be mandatory. Doctors who had graduated from outside Karachi were significantly less likely to report CPD/CME to be mandatory as compared to graduates from Karachi (p=0.004).Top three factors which influenced HCP's to attend CPD/CME included career progression (65.1%), interest (54.7%) and knowledge gap (50.5%). The most common perceived barriers were lack of study leave, cost and work-life imbalance. The implementation issues expressed by different stakeholders included lack of doctor's interest, busy clinical schedule and poor accessibility.ConclusionMostly medical practioners believe that CPD program is an important step toward enabling physicians to demonstrate their competency and professionalism to themselves and others. The PM&DC has to take practical steps to evaluate the cognitive, clinical, and humanistic attributes of certified doctors.

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