Research in the Continuum of Primary Care Education
General Practice, Learning Research, Evidence-Informed Practice
Research aim
The aim is, primarily through research, to improve and support the learning of Primary Care professionals, within and outside of the UMCU, through innovative learning approaches at the workplace, in networks and communities.
About us
High-quality care for patients requires state-of-the-art collaborative work of healthcare professionals. For this work, professionals must adapt to an environment that changes quickly and unpredictably. Inevitably, the medical profession should put centre stage ongoing professional development and lifelong learning of professionals – after their formal education and training. Lifelong informal collaborative learning is distinct from lifelong education. A scholarly approach is indispensable in support of lifelong learning to flourish and be sustainable.
Our work ensures that Primary Care (PC) professionals use learning approaches that are innovative and evidence-informed. PC professionals learn at the workplace, in networks or communities; it contributes to research-informed practice. We focus on learning across boundaries between sociocultural differences. These differences may be between different roles (clinician teachers, clinician scientists), disciplines (pharmacists and GPs), cultures, institutions, generations, and professions. We use qualitative and mixed-methods research methods.
We partner with the Dutch consortium Learning and Supervision Research within General Practice, with researchers who perform care innovation projects, and with health professions education researchers. (Co)promotors outside of the UMCU, we collaborate with are: Dr. M. Barry, Prof. dr. P. Brand, Prof. dr. S. Akkerman, Prof. dr. N. Scherpbier, dr. B. Thoonen, and Prof. dr. F. Schellevis.