Healthcare Professionals Survey
Online Continuing Education Preferences of Healthcare Professionals
Continuing Education (CE) is a requirement for most healthcare professionals; yet there is limited data on their online learning preferences. The Parkinson’s Foundation conducted a survey to assess healthcare professionals’ preferences for online CE format, length of time, decision-making factors and barriers.
About the Study
In collaboration with an interprofessional committee of subject matter experts—including individuals living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), clinicians, and professional education staff – developed a 16-question online survey for healthcare professionals. With the assistance of partners, the survey was distributed nationally between September 17 through October 8, 2024 to healthcare professionals. The survey protocol was approved by the Johns Hopkins University Institutional Review Board (IRB00373495).
Key Highlights
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4,947 healthcare professionals completed the survey
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46% between 31–40 years old
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54% identified as women
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63.5% identified as White; 20.8% as Black; 44.3% as Hispanic/Latino
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Format: Live (46%) & recorded webinars (23%) were the top ranked formats
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Time: 50.5% favored 1–2 hours course length
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Learning Modality: Interactive simulations (37.5%) and case studies (36.1%) were preferred learning modalities
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CE selection: Relevance to practice (61%) was primary factor for CE selection
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Barriers to taking CE: Time (40%) and financial constraints (34.5%)
CE format preference by discipline:
CE time preference by discipline:
Top Take Aways
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For online continuing education activities, healthcare professionals prefer clinically relevant, live and interactive learning experiences.
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Time and financial constraints are top barriers and highlight opportunities to improve accessibility.
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These findings will help the Parkinson's Foundation develop online CE courses for healthcare professionals to better meet their evolving education needs.