| Abstract | Internet-based e-mail discussion groups for health care professionals can be an important part of a educational strategy for maintaining professional competency. A survey of 2339 members of two e-mail discussion groups for pediatric and neonatal intensive care was undertaken. The response rate (including a followup survey) was 49 percent. The majoriy of the respondents were male physicians, with an average age of 40 years, who had completed subspecialty training and were working at a university-affiliated hospital. 72 percent felt that the discussion group helped weekly to keep them informed about current issues and practices in their field(s), and 52 percent felt that, at least monthly, they used information from the discussion group(s) that was not readily available in medical journals. When asked to compare the value of 6 months of membership on an email discussion group with more traditional educational media, 32 percent compared it with attending a national conference, and 19 percent compared it to a journal subscription. |