Dataset Information

How can a postgraduate professional education and development course benefit general practitioners?: a qualitative study.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

The rationale for 'professional education and development' (PED) courses is to support general practitioners, enabling them to access a range of theoretical and practical skills within a supportive schema. It aims to identify whether and how a regional PED course has had a beneficial impact upon participants.

Methods

The study comprised a qualitative investigation of participants' assessed coursework portfolios. The content of each portfolio gives individual accounts of the impact of the course on personal and practice development. Permission to access extant portfolios was obtained from 16 recent alumni of the course. The anonymous written material was analysed by the research team for recurring discourses and themes using a thematic framework analysis.

Results

Seven major thematic categories were extrapolated from the data: leadership, resilience, quality improvement, change management, development of new services, educational expertise, and patient safety. In each category, we found evidence that the course enabled development of practitioners by enhancing knowledge and skills which had a positive impact upon their self-perceived effectiveness and motivation.

Conclusion

Extended specialty training is on the horizon but such courses may still serve a valuable purpose for current trainees and the existing general practitioners workforce which will be responsible for leading the shift towards community-based service delivery.

SUBMITTER: Agius S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4536362 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

How can a postgraduate professional education and development course benefit general practitioners?: a qualitative study.

Agius Steven S Baron Rebecca R Lewis Barry B Luckhurst Stephen S Sloan Mark M Ward Thomas T

Journal of educational evaluation for health professions 20150620

<h4>Purpose</h4>The rationale for 'professional education and development' (PED) courses is to support general practitioners, enabling them to access a range of theoretical and practical skills within a supportive schema. It aims to identify whether and how a regional PED course has had a beneficial impact upon participants.<h4>Methods</h4>The study comprised a qualitative investigation of participants' assessed coursework portfolios. The content of each portfolio gives individual accounts of th ...[more]

PMID: 26084681

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundMedical postgraduates' demand for data capabilities is growing, as biomedical research becomes more data driven, integrative, and computational. In the context of the application of big data in health and medicine, the integration of data mining skills into postgraduate medical education becomes important.ObjectiveThis study aimed to demonstrate the design and implementation of a medical data mining course for medical postgraduates with diverse backgrounds in a medical school.MethodsWe developed a medical data mining course called "Practical Techniques of Medical Data Mining" for postgraduate medical education and taught the course online at Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). To identify the background knowledge, programming skills, and expectations of targeted learners, we conducted a web-based questionnaire survey. After determining the instructional methods to be used in the course, three technical platforms-Rain Classroom, Tencent Meeting, and WeChat-were chosen for online teaching. A medical data mining platform called Medical Data Mining - R Programming Hub (MedHub) was developed for self-learning, which could support the development and comprehensive testing of data mining algorithms. Finally, we carried out a postcourse survey and a case study to demonstrate that our online course could accommodate a diverse group of medical students with a wide range of academic backgrounds and programming experience.ResultsIn total, 200 postgraduates from 30 disciplines participated in the precourse survey. Based on the analysis of students' characteristics and expectations, we designed an optimized course structured into nine logical teaching units (one 4-hour unit per week for 9 weeks). The course covered basic knowledge of R programming, machine learning models, clinical data mining, and omics data mining, among other topics, as well as diversified health care analysis scenarios. Finally, this 9-week course was successfully implemented in an online format from May to July in the spring semester of 2020 at PUMC. A total of 6 faculty members and 317 students participated in the course. Postcourse survey data showed that our course was considered to be very practical (83/83, 100% indicated "very positive" or "positive"), and MedHub received the best feedback, both in function (80/83, 96% chose "satisfied") and teaching effect (80/83, 96% chose "satisfied"). The case study showed that our course was able to fill the gap between student expectations and learning outcomes.ConclusionsWe developed content for a data mining course, with online instructional methods to accommodate the diversified characteristics of students. Our optimized course could improve the data mining skills of medical students with a wide range of academic backgrounds and programming experience.

Project description:BackgroundIntegrated care unites funding, administrative, organisational, service delivery and clinical levels to create connectivity, alignment and collaboration within and between care delivery and prevention sectors. It aims to improve efficiency by avoiding unnecessary duplication of resources. Consequently, implementing integrated care is increasingly important; however, there are many barriers and how we teach healthcare practitioners to work across systems is under-researched. This paper explores an innovative educational curriculum, the Programme for Integrated Child Health (PICH).MethodsThe PICH involved an experiential learning approach supported by taught sessions on specific issues relevant to integrated care. A qualitative study was conducted by interviewing 23 participants using semi-structured one-to-one interviews. Participants included trainees (general practice, paediatrics) and programme mentors. Data was thematically analysed.ResultsResults are coded under three main themes: integrated care curriculum components, perceptions of a curriculum addressing integrated care and organisational change, and personal and professional learning. The data highlights the importance of real-world projects, utilising healthcare data, and considering patient perspectives to understand and develop integrated practices. Trainees received guidance from mentors but, more crucially learnt from, with, and about one another. They learnt about the context in which GPs and paediatricians work and developed a deeper understanding through which integrated services could be meaningfully developed.ConclusionsThis study explored participants' experiences and can be taken forward by educationalists to design curricula to better prepare healthcare practitioners to work collaboratively. The emergence of integrated care brings about challenges for traditional pedagogical approaches as learners have to re-align their discipline-specific approaches with evolving healthcare structures. PICH demonstrated that trainees acquired knowledge through real-word projects and experiential learning; and that this facilitated integration, empowering doctors to become leaders of organisational change. However, there are also many challenges of implementing integrated curricula which need to be addressed, including breaking down professional silos and integrating resourceful healthcare. This study begins to demonstrate the ability of an integrated curriculum to support trainees to work collaboratively, but further work is needed to develop the wider efficacy of the programme incorporating other professional groups, and to assess its longer term impact.

Project description:BACKGROUND:Collaborative care approaches between general practitioners (GPs) and pharmacists have received international recognition for medication optimization and deprescribing efforts. Although specialist providers have been shown to influence deprescribing, their profession so far remains omitted from collaborative care approaches for medication optimization. Similarly, while explorative studies on role perception and collaboration between GPs and pharmacists grow, interaction with specialists for medication optimization is neglected. Our qualitative study therefore aims to explore GPs', community pharmacists' and specialist providers' role perceptions of deprescribing, and to identify interpersonal as well as structural factors that may influence collaborative medication optimization approaches. METHOD:Seven focus-group discussions with GPs, community pharmacists and community specialists were conducted in Hesse and Lower Saxony, Germany. The topic guide focused on views and experiences with deprescribing with special attention to inter-professional collaboration. We conducted conventional content analysis and conceptualized emerging themes using the Theoretical Domains Framework. RESULTS:Twenty-six GPs, four community pharmacists and three community specialists took part in the study. The main themes corresponded to the four domains 'Social/professional role and identity' (1), 'Social influences' (2), 'Reinforcement' (3) and ´Environmental context and resources' (4) which were further described by beliefs statements, that is inductively developed key messages. For (1), GPs emerged as central medication managers while pharmacists and specialists were assigned confined or subordinated tasks in deprescribing. Social influences (2) encompassed patients' trust in GPs as a support, while specialists and pharmacists were believed to threaten GPs' role and deprescribing attempts. Reinforcements (3) negatively affected GPs' and pharmacists' effort in medication optimization by social reprimand and lacking reward. Environmental context (4) impeded deprescribing efforts by deficient reimbursement and resources as well as fragmentation of care, while informational and gate-keeping resources remained underutilized. CONCLUSION:Understanding stakeholders' role perceptions on collaborative deprescribing is a prerequisite for joint approaches to medication management. We found that clear definition and dissemination of roles and responsibilities are premise for avoiding intergroup conflicts. Role performance and collaboration must further be supported by structural factors like adequate reimbursement, resources and a transparent continuity of care.

Project description:ObjectiveTo identify threshold concepts (TCs) for physicians undergoing postgraduate medical education (PGME) in general practice.DesignAn explorative, qualitative study with 65 min focus group interviews and thematic analysis was used. Participants were asked to describe their most transformative learning experiences. Heuristical TCs were identified from the thematic analysis.SettingAotearoa/New Zealand (A/NZ).ParticipantsFifty participants, mostly comprising current trainees and educators from urban centres, and of NZ/European ethnicity.ResultsTwenty TCs covering many aspects of postgraduate general practice experience were derived from themes identified in the data. Presented in medical proverbial form for ease of recollection, these included: Money makes the practice go round; Be a legal eagle; Manage time or it will manage you; Guidelines, GPs' little helpers; Right tool, right word, right place; The whole of the practice is greater than the sum of the parts; The personal enhances the professional; Beat biases by reflection; Chew the Complexity, Unpredictability, Diversity; Embrace the uncertainty; Not knowing is knowing; Seek and you shall find; Waiting and seeing, waiting and being; Look, listen, think between the lines; Treat the patient beyond the disease; No patient is an island; Words work wonders; Hearing is healing; Being you and being there; and; The relationship is worth a thousand consults. These TCs mapped onto core competencies in A/NZ's PGME in general practice curriculum.ConclusionsParticipants readily identified transformative and troublesome moments in their PGME in general practice. These findings confirmed evidence for a wide range of TCs with many newly identified in this study. All TCs were fundamentally based on the doctor-patient relationship, although often involving the context and culture of general practice. Actively incorporating and teaching these identified TCs in PGME in general practice may enable trainees to grasp these important learning thresholds earlier and more easily and aid in identity and role formation.

Project description:BackgroundContinuing medical education (CME) is essential to developing and maintaining high quality primary care. Traditionally, CME is delivered face-to-face, but due to geographical distances, and pressure of work in Bangladesh, general practitioners (GPs) are unable to relocate for several days to attend training. Using chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as an exemplar, we aimed to assess the feasibility of blended learning (combination of face-to-face and online) for GPs, and explore trainees' and trainers' perspectives towards the blended learning approach.MethodsWe used a mixed-methods design. We trained 49 GPs in two groups via blended (n = 25) and traditional face-to-face approach (n = 24) and assessed their post-course knowledge and skills. The COPD Physician Practice Assessment Questionnaire (COPD-PPAQ) was administered before and one-month post-course. Verbatim transcriptions of focus group discussions with 18 course attendees and interviews with three course trainers were translated into English and analysed thematically.ResultsForty GPs completed the course (Blended: 19; Traditional: 21). The knowledge and skills post course, and the improvement in self-reported adherence to COPD guidelines was similar in both groups. Most participants preferred blended learning as it was more convenient than taking time out of their busy work life, and for many the online learning optimised the benefits of the subsequent face-to-face sessions. Suggested improvements included online interactivity with tutors, improved user friendliness of the e-learning platform, and timing face-to-face classes over weekends to avoid time-out of practice.ConclusionsQuality improvement requires a multifaceted approach, but adequate knowledge and skills are core components. Blended learning is feasible and, with a few caveats, is an acceptable option to GPs in Bangladesh. This is timely, given that online learning with limited face-to-face contact is likely to become the norm in the on-going COVID-19 pandemic.

Project description:BackgroundEarly lifestyle intervention, including antenatal nutrition education, is required to reduce the triple burden of malnutrition. Understanding healthcare professionals' views and experiences is essential for improving future nutrition education programmes for Indonesian pregnant women. This study aimed to investigate the views of Indonesian antenatal healthcare professionals regarding nutrition education for pregnant women and the improvements required to provide more effective antenatal nutrition education.MethodsA descriptive qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews was conducted with 24 healthcare professionals, including nutritionists (n = 10), midwives (n = 9) and obstetricians (n = 5) in Malang, Indonesia, between December 2018 and January 2019. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsThe study identified four main themes. First, healthcare professionals were aware of the importance of providing antenatal nutrition education, which included supporting its targeted delivery. Second, there were differing views on who should provide nutrition education. Most midwives and obstetricians viewed nutritionists as the prime nutrition education provider. Nutritionists were confident in their capability to provide nutrition education. However, some nutritionists reported that only a few women visited primary health centres and received nutrition counselling via this pathway. Third, healthcare professionals revealed some barriers in providing education for women. These barriers included a limited number of nutritionists, lack of consistent guidelines, lack of healthcare professionals' nutrition knowledge and lack of time during antenatal care services. Fourth, participants expressed the need to strengthen some system elements, including reinforcing collaboration, developing guidelines, and enhancing capacity building to improve future antenatal nutrition education.ConclusionsHealthcare professionals play a central role in the provision of antenatal nutrition education. This study highlighted the importance of educational models that incorporate various antenatal nutrition education delivery strategies. These methods include maximizing referral systems and optimizing education through multiple delivery methods, from digital modes to traditional face-to-face nutrition education in pregnancy classes and community-based health services.

Dataset Information

How can a postgraduate professional education and development course benefit general practitioners?: a qualitative study.

Purpose

Methods

Results

Conclusion

Publications

How can a postgraduate professional education and development course benefit general practitioners?: a qualitative study.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets