To explore the demand for mobile application (APP) and personal computer (PC) platforms among physicians at different tiers of hospitals in ultrasound physician continuing education.

A verifiable self-study credit management system, integrating both mobile APP and PC terminals, was developed. Between June 2022 and June 2023, a total of 40 physicians (trainee group) and 9 senior chief physicians (assessor group) from the Department of Ultrasound Medicine of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH, a tertiary hospital), as well as 9 physicians (trainee group) and 2 senior attending physicians (assessor group) from the Department of Functional Laboratory of Beijing No. 6 Hospital (a secondary hospital), successfully fulfilled the requirement of submitting at least 15 course credits, undergoing assessment reviews and credit certification, and receiving feedback. This process was facilitated through the utilization of the verifiable self-study credit management system. Differences in platform submissions were analyzed between hospitals using χ² or Fisher's exact tests, and within hospitals using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

Based on the verifiable self-study credit management system, all individuals completed task submissions and evaluations. Mobile APP operations totaled 602 (86%) compared to PC operations at 101 (14%); physicians from the two hospitals showed significant differences in their choice between mobile APP and PC platforms for all task types (χ²=36.173，P<0.001). In terms of task submissions, the mobile APP usage rate at Beijing No. 6 Hospital was 100%, significantly surpassing that of PUMCH at 53.02% (χ²=65.005，P<0.001). Mobile APP was used in all assessor group certifying credits and all participants filling out questionnaires. When completing different types of learning tasks, physicians from PUMCH preferred submitting via both mobile APP and PC platforms, with no significant inter-group differences (P>0.05); for tasks such as publishing articles, medical book publications, case reviews, research projects, and topics, PC usage rates were ≥61%; for tasks like medical translations, online self-study courses, and studying materials designated by continuing medical education, mobile APP usage rates were ≥75%. All four learning tasks completed by physicians from Beijing No. 6 Hospital were submitted via the mobile APP. For the same four tasks involving academic exchanges and self-study in their respective fields, physicians from PUMCH used both APP and PC platforms, while physicians from Beijing No. 6 Hospital exclusively utilized the mobile APP, showing statistical significance (χ²=79.457，15.326; P<0.001 for both).

The integration of a mobile phone APP terminal and a PC terminal in a verifiable self-study credit management system effectively caters to the requirements of medical education self-study credit authentication in hospitals of varying levels. Furthermore, the APP terminal has wider use.