Blended learning for primary care physicians on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): A feasibility study in Bangladesh

Quantitative data: The study participants were general practitioners (GPs) providing public and private primary healthcare services in Bangladesh. We administered the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease- physician’s practice assessment questionnaire (COPD-PPAQ) to the participants prior to the start of training and one month following completion of the training. We collected socio-demographic information such as age and gender, GP experience, workload, number of patients consulted per day, and previous experience of online training. At the end of course we collected knowledge and skills examination scores of participants. Qualitative data: All participants who completed the blended learning training were invited to participate in one of three focus groups with 18 participants facilitated by MNU and supported by a note-taker. The number of participants from urban, semi-rural and rural areas were nine, five and four respectively. Discussion addressed participants’ perceptions of blended learning, preferences compared to previous experiences of face-to-face or online learning, advantages/disadvantages of the blended learning. The three course trainers were interviewed individually to explore their views and opinions about the practicalities of delivering training using this approach. All discussions were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim in the spoken language (Bengali). The emotional context such as pauses, laughter, emphasis and non-verbal communication were included as notes in the transcripts to aid analysis. Transcripts were translated (by MNU who led the focus groups) from Bengali to English for analysis.