In 2009, the Practice Development Unit and
the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine
within Malta’s Primary Health Department carried out a
training needs analysis of health care providers working
in government primary health centres and clinics so as
to investigate their educational requirements.
Method: After a questionnaire was developed as a
tool, a pilot study was conducted in a particular health
centre to test its validity. The amended version of the
questionnaire was then mailed individually to all health
providers working at that time in the various health
centres and peripheral clinics.
Out of the 498 questionnaires sent, 215 were
completed and returned, with a resulting response rate
of 43%. One main finding was that, irrespective of one’s
discipline, the programme topic and the lecturer were
the important decisive factors of whether one attended
a training course or not. On the other hand, specific
obstacles to training emerged that are directly related to
one’s profession: these included shortage of staff, lack
of time and other commitments.
From the information revealed by the
training needs analysis, the department revamped its
training strategy to consist of three-monthly Saturday
seminars dealing with topics relevant to primary health
care, with such activities being oversubscribed and
well-received. In this manner a thriving continuing
professional development programme was designed and
delivered for health care professionals within Malta’s
Primary Health Departmentpeer-reviewe
