Conducting educational intervention research in general practice: From design to publication

Abstract

With the ongoing development of primary care in China, nearly 400,000 general practitioners (GPs) are expected to be trained over the next decade. The training of competent GPs is of vital importance, which requires GP educators to explore evidence-based educational concepts, methods, and curricula tailored to the Chinese context. At present in China, the quality of GP educational intervention studies in general practice is relatively poor. and most faculty and researchers in GP lack relevant training in this area. The aim of this paper is to outline the process of conducting educational intervention research in general practice from design to publication, comprising four stages with 13 steps:constructing research questions (generating research inspiration, literature review, incorporating a theoretical/conceptual framework, refining research questions), research design (trial design, intervention, outcome evaluation), research implementation (establishing a research team, obtaining research resources, applying for ethical approval, program execution), and publication and evaluation (article writing, reflection and evaluation). This paper provides research methods and ideas for educational researchers and practitioners in GP to conduct educational intervention studies, which will contribute to the generation of high-quality educational research "evidence", further improvement of the quality of GP educational, and the training of competent general practitioners.

Keywords

General practice / Education, Medical / Educational research / Intervention / Research methods

Competing interest

Competing interests:Z.C. is the editorial member of Chinese General Practice Journal, he is not envolved in the editorial review or the decision to publish this article. All authors declare that there are no competing interests.

Declarations

Not applicable.

Authors' contributions

Conceptualization, Z.C., Z.X. and L.K.; Data curation, not applicable; Methodology, O.JM and Z.X.; Data curation, not applicable; Formal analysis, not applicable; Funding acquisition, Z.C., Z.X. and L.K.; Project administration, Z.X., P. T, T.HX.and X.CY; Resources, not applicable; Supervision, Z.C. C.QQ. and L.K.; Validation, Z.C. C.QQ. and L.K.; Writing—original draft, O.J., P.T., Z.Y., X.CY. and T.HX.; Writing—review and editing, Z.C. and L.K. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Ethical approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data and materials

Not applicable.

Funding

Sichuan Provincial Medical (Youth Innovation) Scientific Research Project (Q20010); Chengdu Municipal Medical Scientific Research Project (2021062); Teaching Research Project of Chengdu Fifth People's Hospital (JGZX202215); Teaching Reform Project of Clinical Teaching Bases in Undergraduate Universities of Guangdong Province (2019JD108).

Acknowledgements

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the SMU-FAIMER Regional Institute (Southern Medical University - Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research, China Regional Center) for providing guidance and training in educational research to members of our team.

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