Rural Physicians' Motivation to Participate in a Peer Coaching Program

Peer coaching is a promising strategy for continuing professional development for enhancing physicians' skills and mitigating burnout. Coaching may be particularly important for helping rural physicians maintain or extend their traditionally broader scope of practice, yet little is known about what motivates rural physicians to engage in coaching. To address this gap, the purpose of this study was to investigate rural physicians' motivation to participate in a peer coaching program.

This study analyzed semi-structured interviews with 22 rural physicians who participated in the Coaching and Mentoring Program offered by University of British Columbia's continuing professional development. Interviews, which were originally collected for program evaluation, were analyzed using template analysis within a constructivist framework. Deductive codes were informed by expectancy-value theory and self-determination theory, while inducive codes captured novel insights.

Four key themes emerged: (1) Participants valued closing perceived gaps between their current skills and their evolving scope of practice; (2) credible and invested coaches fostered expectancies of success; (3) experiences during the coaching journey facilitated ongoing motivation; and (4) competing demands threatened ongoing motivation.

This study suggests that coaching programs for rural physicians should be responsive to the varied demands that drive rural physicians to seek coaching and support meaningful coach-coachee interactions to foster sustained engagement. Future research should seek the perspective of non-participants and compare peer versus professional coaching models.