Planning, implementation, and evaluation of AIDS education programs for dentists

Because many dentists were trained before HIV disease was recognized and its implications for dentistry understood, there is a need for effective continuing education programs about the disease for health professionals. Unfortunately, much of the continuing professional education about AIDS in the last few years has been poorly evaluated and the value of continuing education itself has increasingly been called into question. In order to clarify how continuing educational efforts can be designed and evaluated, we report on our continuing educational projects and research which culminated in research on a nationwide educational intervention about AIDS for dentists. We outline and evaluate the steps taken in designing both the intervention and the research. The strengths and weaknesses of the design are discussed and suggestions made about how the design could be improved.