How do postgraduate GP trainees regulate their learning and what helps and hinders them? A qualitative study

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professional Development
• Workplace Learning

Background:

• Self-regulation is vital for professional growth, involving performance monitoring and targeted learning.
• External feedback and educational interventions are increasingly used to support learner self-regulation.
• Understanding how postgraduate trainees regulate learning in the workplace is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how postgraduate trainees regulate their learning.
• To investigate how external regulation promotes self-regulation.
• To identify factors that facilitate or impede self-regulation and learning.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study using a phenomenological approach.
• Interviews conducted with first- and third-year GP trainees.
• Analysis of 21 transcripts with iterative coding to reach data saturation.

Main Results:

• Trainees employed short (weekly) and long (longitudinal) self-regulation loops.
• External assessments and formal training impacted the long loop; supervisors facilitated both.
• Personal, interpersonal, and contextual factors influenced self-regulation.

Conclusions:

• Trainees actively engage in self-regulated learning.
• External feedback is crucial for both short and long learning loops.
• Further research should focus on interventions for short-loop learning, and supervisor training is key.