Research Department of Medical Education, UCL Medical School, Royal Free Hospital, Room GF/664, London, NW3 2PF, UK.
Hull York Medical School, York University, John Hughlings Jackson Building, University Rd, Heslington, York, YO10 5DD, UK.
BMC Med Educ. 2020 Mar 17;20(1):74. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-1993-0.
Across the world, local standards provide doctors with a backbone of professional attitudes that must be embodied across their practice. However, educational approaches to develop attitudes are undermined by the lack of a theoretical framework. Our research explored the ways in which the General Medical Council's (GMC) programme of preventative educational workshops (the Duties of a Doctor programme) attempted to influence doctors' professional attitudes and examined how persuasive communication theory can advance understandings of professionalism education.
This qualitative study comprised 15 ethnographic observations of the GMC's programme of preventative educational workshops at seven locations across England, as well as qualitative interviews with 55 postgraduate doctors ranging in experience from junior trainees to senior consultants. The sample was purposefully chosen to include various geographic locations, different programme facilitators and doctors, who varied by seniority. Data collection occurred between March to December 2017. Thematic analysis was undertaken inductively, with meaning flowing from the data, and deductively, guided by persuasive communication theory.
The source (educator); the message (content); and the audience (participants) were revealed as key influences on the persuasiveness of the intervention. Educators established a high degree of credibility amongst doctors and worked to build rapport. Their message was persuasive, in that it drew on rational and emotional communicative techniques and made use of both statistical and narrative evidence. Importantly, the workshops were interactive, which allowed doctors to engage with the message and thus increased its persuasiveness.
This study extends the literature by providing a theoretically-informed understanding of an educational intervention aimed at promoting professionalism, examining it through the lens of persuasive communication. Within the context of interactive programmes that allow doctors to discuss real life examples of professional dilemmas, educators can impact on doctors' professional attitudes by drawing on persuasive communication techniques to enhance their credibility to demonstrate expertise, by building rapport and by making use of rational and emotional appeals.
在世界各地，地方标准为医生提供了贯穿整个实践的专业态度的核心，而态度的教育方法却因缺乏理论框架而受到影响。我们的研究探索了英国医学总会（GMC）预防教育研讨会（医生职责计划）计划如何影响医生的专业态度，并研究了说服性沟通理论如何能增进对专业主义教育的理解。
这项定性研究包括在英格兰七个地点对 GMC 的预防教育研讨会计划进行了 15 次民族志观察，以及对 55 名从初级受训者到高级顾问的研究生医生进行了定性访谈。该样本是有目的选择的，包括不同的地理位置、不同的课程主持人和医生，他们的资历也各不相同。数据收集于 2017 年 3 月至 12 月进行。主题分析是从数据中进行归纳的，也从有说服力的沟通理论进行演绎。
来源（教育者）；信息（内容）；和受众（参与者）被揭示为干预措施说服力的关键影响因素。教育者在医生中建立了高度的可信度，并努力建立融洽关系。他们的信息具有说服力，因为它借鉴了理性和情感沟通技巧，并利用了统计和叙述证据。重要的是，研讨会是互动式的，允许医生参与信息交流，从而提高其说服力。
这项研究通过提供对旨在促进专业精神的教育干预措施的理论理解，扩展了文献，通过有说服力的沟通视角来检验它。在允许医生讨论真实的职业困境例子的互动计划的背景下，教育者可以通过借鉴有说服力的沟通技巧来提高他们的可信度，以展示专业知识，建立融洽关系，并利用理性和情感诉求，从而对医生的专业态度产生影响。
