Brimmer, Dana J, McCleary, K Kimberly, Lupton, Teresa A et al. · BMC medical education · 2009 · DOI
Most doctors don't know much about ME/CFS, which means many patients don't get diagnosed or treated. Researchers created an educational program to teach healthcare providers about ME/CFS between 2000 and 2006. They found that online courses were much more popular than printed materials, and that targeting specific audiences at smaller conferences was most effective at spreading information.
Only 16% of ME/CFS patients receive an appropriate diagnosis, partly due to provider knowledge gaps. This study demonstrates that targeted healthcare professional education is feasible and can reach large numbers of providers, potentially improving diagnostic rates and access to appropriate care for millions of undiagnosed patients.
This study does not prove that educating providers actually improves patient outcomes or changes clinical practice. It only measures educational material dissemination and course enrollment—not whether providers retained information, changed their diagnostic behavior, or whether patients benefited from increased provider awareness.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Brimmer, Dana J, McCleary, K Kimberly, Lupton, Teresa A, Faryna, Katherine M, & Reeves, William C (2009). Continuing medical education challenges in chronic fatigue syndrome.. BMC medical education. https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6920-9-70
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-brimmer-2009-continuing-medical,
author = {Brimmer, Dana J and McCleary, K Kimberly and Lupton, Teresa A and Faryna, Katherine M and Reeves, William C},
title = {Continuing medical education challenges in chronic fatigue syndrome.},
journal = {BMC medical education},
year = {2009},
doi = {10.1186/1472-6920-9-70},
note = {PubMed: 19954535},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/brimmer-2009-continuing-medical},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/brimmer-2009-continuing-medical
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