• Aaron P Turner, Christine Martin, Rhonda M Williams, Kelly Goudreau, James D Bowen, Michael Hatzakis, Ruth H Whitham, Dennis N Bourdette, Lynne Walker, and Jodie K Haselkorn.
• Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, WA 98108, USA. Aaron.Turner@med.va.gov
• J Rehabil Res Dev. 2006 Jan 1;43(1):25-34.

AbstractOur objective was to survey experienced multiple sclerosis (MS) care providers, determine their ongoing professional educational needs, and develop future education programs. We asked providers across a variety of disciplines to identify the areas in which clinical consultation and continuing medical education (CME) would most improve their ability to provide care to individuals with MS; their preferred education modalities; and their confidence in providing care related to disease-modifying agents (DMAs), fatigue, depression, spasticity, and bladder management. At a national meeting of MS professionals, 152 MS care providers completed a self-report survey that was designed for this cross-sectional cohort study. Areas of greatest interest for clinical consultation and CME were identical and included cognition, fatigue, DMA use, spasticity, pain, sex, diagnosis of MS, and depression. Participants expressed a preference for live and interactive CME modalities. Confidence in providing specific disease-related care sometimes differed between Veterans Health Administration (VHA) and non-VHA providers. The results indicate that clinical consultations and CME should be targeted to the topics of greatest interest identified by providers and delivered in a live or interactive modality whenever possible.

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