Evaluation in Continuing Medical Education

So many words have been written and so many more have been uttered on this topic that an enormous difficulty is presented to anyone invited to prepare a paper. Evaluation has been defined, described, decried, and defended. The lack of evaluation has been bemoaned, bewailed, and bemused. The need for evaluation has been expressed, exhorted, and extolled. Approaches to evaluation have been proposed, proclaimed, and provided. All in all, one wonders how so much effort can have brought about so little effect. Perhaps that last statement is too harsh; in our interest in the well-turned phrase, we often tend to exaggerate. Indeed, there is every indication that the need for evaluation is now widely accepted. There is no question that evaluative approaches and techniques have become more sophisticated over recent years. There is no question that there is a greater understanding of evaluation as a concept and a process. There