Effectiveness of commitment contracts in facilitating change in continuing medical education intervention

The purpose of this study was to determine whether physicians who committed themselves to making changes in clinical practice following a continuing medical education (CME) course were more likely to change than those not asked to make such a commitment. Physicians participating in a short course in geriatrics were randomly assigned to either a commitment to change group or a no commitment to change group. The physicians in the commitment to change group were asked to identify areas of their clinical practice that they planned to alter as a result of the educational program. All physicians were followed up at 1 and 3 months after the course, either in person or by telephone, to determine what changes they had made. Both groups made changes in their practice, with the largest number of changes being made by the commitment to change group. This study suggests that behavioral change can accruefrom a short-course intervention and that this is facilitated when physicians have committed to make change.