Learning about general practice through qualitative interviews: Lessons from a seminar course with medical students

Abstract

Background: A seminar course was developed in order to train medical students in qualitative research methods, while providing an introduction to the field of General Practice. Students were enabled to conduct semi-structured interviews with general practitioners (GPs), during which they learned about the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of frequently encountered medical problems. The course was carried out four times at two universities in Germany. Aims: The study explores the students' learning experiences focusing on their research experience. Methods: Data were collected in four focus groups and analyzed. Results: The students perceived the course as very different from their usual medical education. This was appreciated, but also caused some difficulties. Three themes emerged: (1) Missing 'facts', (2) New horizons: 'Thinking outside the box', and (3) The challenge of interpretation: 'Reading between the lines'. Conclusions: Learning qualitative research methods can be particularly challenging for medical students as the tasks and epistemology of qualitative research run counter to the usual learning formats and research paradigms in medical education. When teaching qualitative research, special care should be taken to address the cognitive dissonance experienced by students and to explain the unique contribution of qualitative research to medical practice and the field of General Practice especially.

Health professionals learning qualitative research in their workplace: a focused ethnography

“…This educational bias was, however, overcome by educating participants on the purpose of the qualitative approach and the validity and academic rigor of qualitative methodology, in agreement with other experiences in literature [4,32]. The hands-on experience in carrying out their qualitative research projects in a real setting further corroborated their appreciation for the approach and provided them with a new skill set, including qualitative interviewing and inductive data analysis.…”

“… Trainers should contact managers and ask them to encourage HPs participating QRM training programs, mainly if these include teamwork education, in order to nurture a positive culture of learning and teamwork within the workplace, in accordance to what suggested elsewhere [ 38 ]. It has been reported [ 4 , 11 ] that cognitive dissonance is an ingredient of QRM learning and practice to be managed by the trainers and, hopefully, by peers. As several authors pointed out [ 39 – 41 ], experienced mentorship plays a pivotal role in becoming confident on how to conduct qualitative research.…”

“…It has been reported [ 4 , 11 ] that cognitive dissonance is an ingredient of QRM learning and practice to be managed by the trainers and, hopefully, by peers. As several authors pointed out [ 39 – 41 ], experienced mentorship plays a pivotal role in becoming confident on how to conduct qualitative research.…”

“…In recent years the interest for qualitative research methodology and methods (QRM) has gradually expanded beyond the mere theoretical academic research on medical education, gathering interest from all healthcare professionals (HPs) [ 1 – 3 ] thanks to its potential in exploring the social, emotional, psychological aspects of care [ 4 ] and in broadening professionals’ scientific competencies. Nonetheless, QRM has still not been embraced within formal and academic curricula for future HPs [ 4 – 7 ], preventing newer generations from appreciating the value of its epistemological and methodological aspects and from using it in the development and implementation of clinical research. Charmaz highlights the limited coverage of qualitative research in general methods courses, non-existent or insufficient undergraduate courses and a scarcity of in-depth qualitative methods courses in graduate programs [ 8 ].…”

A Grounded Theory of Inductive Qualitative Research Education: Results of a Meta-Data-Analysis

“…In addition to critical thinking and reading, the experience of learning qualitative research includes analytical development, because students encounter the need to learn how to extrapolate in qualitative data analysis (Reisetter et al, 2003, p. 471). This was described in another study (Von Unger et al, 2010) by one student in the following terms:…”