IMPACT OF A CLINICAL PREVENTIVE MEDICINE CURRICULUM FOR PRIMARY CARE FACULTY - RESULTS OF A DISSEMINATION MODEL

Background. This study was designed to test a dissemination model for providing clinical preventive medicine (CPM) training to general internal medicine faculty across the United States. Methods. The model incorporated direct instruction of a few faculty as seminar facilitators who, in turn, taught a CPM curriculum to their faculty colleagues, who then could teach it to housestaff and students. The CPM curriculum consisted of six seminars that focused primarily on the risk factors for chronic diseases and on behavior change methods for modifying smoking, diet, and exercise. Results. Faculty who participated in the seminars had significant pre- to post-test increase in knowledge and reported self-efficacy to implement CPM strategies with patients, as well as changes in CPM clinical practices. These faculty, in turn, successfully disseminated CPM information to their housestaff, who also had increases in self-efficacy and changed clinical practices regarding CPM topics. Conclusions. The successful implementation of the dissemination model attests to its viability as a mechanism for disseminating CPM curricula and increasing the emphasis on CPM issues in both clinical teaching and clinical encounters with patients. © 1992.