Dissertation Abstract

Continuing Education Needs Perceived by Members of Three North Carolina Allied Health Professions (Assisting, Medical Technologists, Radiologic).

The purposes of this study were to identify commonalities of perceived continuing education needs, identify and describe demographic characteristics, and compare views about voluntary or required continuing education of medical assistants, medical technologists and radiologic technologists who were members of their professional organizations. A mail survey sent to a random sample of 200 members each of the North Carolina Society of Medical Assistants (NCSMA), the North Carolina Society for Medical Technology (NCSMT), and the North Carolina Society of Radiologic Technologists (NCSRT) provided a 60% response rate.

Members of all three professions identified six topics showing 'moderate or great need' for continuing education: Medical Law and Ethics, Human Relations, Communication Skills, Management and Supervision Skills, Leadership Skills, and Computer Applications. The data provided ten other topics showing need by at least two of the professions and provided a total of 16 topics for cross-disciplinary continuing education. Analysis of variance supported the need for interdisciplinary continuing education. More than 60% of each profession responded that continuing education should be required or mandatory and 92% of all the members had been involved in continuing education activities during the past year. The typical member of NCSMA was 40 years old, had 10.7 years of experience and 13 years of formal education. The typical member of NCSMT was 37 years old, had 10 years of experience and 15.6 years of formal education. The typical member of NCSRT was 32 years old, had 9 years of experience and 14 years of formal education. Results of this study provided resources for planning interdisciplinary continuing education and establishing a possible Center for meeting those needs of allied health professionals.

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