Change in physician attitudes toward reform in medical education: The results of a field experiment

Both medical education and practice have encountered significant challenges in recent years. Social or programmatic innovation is one type of response to such stimuli but little is known about the effects of such structural changes on individual participants. This study used a field experimental design to assess the impact of participation in an innovative program in medical education on the attitudes of practicing physicians. Such a quasi-experimental design combines certain benefits of conventional models of experimentation with those which accompany a natural setting. Results of the analyses tend to indicate that the quality of an individual's experience in such a program moderates the impact of the program on his/her attitudes. The implications of these results for both change-agents in other settings and future field experiments of this sort are discussed.