Implementing a Virtual Community of Practice for Family Physician Training: A Mixed-Methods Case Study
Journal of Medical Internet ResearchPublished 12 March 2014Open access
Stephen Barnett, Sandra C. Jones, Tim Caton, Don Iverson, Sue Bennett, Laura Robinson
Citations94
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.99
SNIP1.96
Generate an AI Snapshot to get a quick, structured summary of this paper.
Study Snapshot
ObjectiveStudy objective
MethodsResearch methodology
PopulationPopulation studied
Sample sizeSample sizes
OutcomesStudy outcomes here
ResultsStudy results comes here
LimitationsResearch study limitations comes here
A concise AI-generated summary of the paper will appear here once you click Generate AI Snapshot.
TL;DR
The usefulness of a 7-step framework for implementation of an online community for general practitioner (GP) training and the usefulness of the resulting VCoP in facilitating knowledge sharing and reducing professional isolation are evaluated.
Abstract
The 7-step framework for implementation of an online community was useful. Overcoming isolation and improving connectedness through an online knowledge sharing community shows promise in GP training. Time and technology are barriers that may be overcome by training, technology, and valuable content. In a VCoP, trust can be built online. This has implications for course delivery, particularly in regional areas. VCoPs may also have a specific role assisting overseas trained doctors to interpret their medical knowledge in a new context.
Keywords
Social SciencesHealth ProfessionsBusiness, Management and Accounting
ManSituated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation.
39,763 Citations1994Maurice Bloch, Jean Lave +1 more
Cambridge University Press eBooksSituated Learning
32,052 Citations1991Jean Lave, Étienne Wenger
This work has shown that legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice is not confined to midwives, tailors, quartermasters, butchers, non-drinking alcoholics and the like.
Communities of practice learning, meaning, and identity
28,542 Citations1999Étienne Wenger
Cambridge University Press eBooksCommunities of Practice
21,900 Citations1998Étienne Wenger
Identity in practice, modes of belonging, participation and non-participation, and learning communities: a guide to understanding identity in practice.
International Journal of Man-Machine StudiesUser acceptance of information technology: system characteristics, user perceptions and behavioral impacts
4,721 Citations1993Fred D. Davis
Overall, TAM provides an informative representation of the mechanisms by which design choices influence user acceptance, and should therefore be helpful in applied contexts for forecasting and evaluating user acceptance of information technology.
Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyThe revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence.
3,604 Citations1980Daniel W. Russell, Letitia Anne Peplau +1 more
Two studies provide methodological refinement in the measurement of loneliness, demonstrating that although loneliness is correlated with measures of negative affect, social risk taking, and affiliative tendencies, it is nonetheless a distinct psychological experience.
Loneliness: the experience of emotional and social isolation
2,553 Citations1974Robert S. Weiss
BMC Medical EducationWikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education
1,170 Citations2006Maged N. Kamel Boulos, Inocencio Maramba +1 more
Journal of Medical Internet ResearchMedicine 2.0: Social Networking, Collaboration, Participation, Apomediation, and Openness
1,132 Citations2008Günther Eysenbach
In a very significant development for eHealth, a broad adoption of Web 2.0 technologies and approaches coincides with the more recent emergence of Personal Health Application Platforms and Personally Controlled Health Records such as Google Health, Microsoft HealthVault, and Dossia.
Journal of Organizational BehaviorTelecommuting, professional isolation, and employee development in public and private organizations
728 Citations2002Cecily D. Cooper, Nancy B. Kurland
Health Care Management ReviewThe Impact of Workplace Empowerment, Organizational Trust on Staff Nurses' Work Satisfaction and Organizational Commitment
610 Citations2001Heather K. Spence Laschinger, Joan Finegan +1 more
Journal of Medical Internet ResearchUnderstanding the Factors That Influence the Adoption and Meaningful Use of Social Media by Physicians to Share Medical Information
377 Citations2012Brian McGowan, Molly Wasko +4 more
The use of social media applications may be seen as an efficient and effective method for physicians to keep up-to-date and to share newly acquired medical knowledge with other physicians within the medical community and to improve the quality of patient care.
European Management JournalWhy communities of practice succeed and why they fail
337 Citations2008Gilbert Probst, Stefano Borzillo
Health Care Management ReviewUnderstanding physicians' intentions to withdraw from practice
316 Citations2010Eric S. Williams, Thomas R. Konrad +6 more
This study proposes and tests a model relating job stress to four intentions to withdraw from practice mediated by job satisfaction and perceptions of physical and mental health.
Health Care Management ReviewUnderstanding Physicians' Intentions to Withdraw from Practice: The Role of Job Satisfaction, Job Stress, Mental and Physical Health
229 Citations2001Eric S. Williams, Thomas R. Konrad +6 more
This study proposes and tests a model relating job stress to four intentions to withdraw from practice mediated by job satisfaction and perceptions of physical and mental health.
BMC Family PracticeGeneral practice training and virtual communities of practice - a review of the literature
118 Citations2012Stephen Barnett, Sandra C. Jones +3 more
This literature review will critically examine the current evidence relevant to virtual communities of practice in General Practice training, identify evidence-based principles that might guide their construction and suggest further avenues for research.
Evaluation & the Health ProfessionsBridging the Gap: Knowledge Seeking and Sharing in a Virtual Community of Emergency Practice
71 Citations2009Janet Curran, Andrea Murphy +3 more
Evaluating the effectiveness of the online environment for knowledge exchange among rural and urban emergency clinicians to provide direction for design of a virtual community of practice, which may reduce current knowledge resource disparities.
The Medical Journal of AustraliaSupervision — growing and building a sustainable general practice supervisor system
55 Citations2011Jennifer Thomson, Katrina Anderson +2 more
Various models and ideas for future sustainable general practice vocational training supervision in Australia are explored, including vertically integrated teaching, e‐learning, wave consulting and teaching on the run, teaching teams and remote teaching.
Journal of Medical Internet ResearchPerceptions of Family Physician Trainees and Trainers Regarding the Usefulness of a Virtual Community of Practice
47 Citations2013Stephen Barnett, Sandra C. Jones +3 more
General practice registrars and supervisors are interested in using a private online network, or VCoP, for work and training purposes, and the extent to which concerns such as privacy and usefulness may be overcome by training and support to offset some other concerns, such as time barriers is considered.
Family PracticeIsolation, flexibility and change in vocational training for general practice: personal and educational problems experienced by general practice registrars in Australia
38 Citations2004Sarah Larkins
The nature, causes and effects of more severe problems experienced during vocational training for general practice from the registrar's viewpoint are elicited and a list of suggestions for the providers of general practice training is developed.
Australian Journal of Primary HealthUsefulness of a virtual community of practice and Web 2.0 tools for general practice training: experiences and expectations of general practitioner registrars and supervisors
26 Citations2013Stephen Barnett, Sandra C. Jones +3 more
Frequent Internet-using GP registrars and supervisors perceive a virtual communities of practice for GP training as a useful tool to overcome professional isolation through improved knowledge sharing, and a successful VCoP may have a positive outcome on the rural medical workforce.
Implementation ScienceSynergizing expectation and execution for stroke communities of practice innovations
23 Citations2010Lise Poissant, Sara Ahmed +4 more
This project is expected to enhance the understanding of collaborative work across disciplines and organisations in accelerating implementation of best practices along the continuum of care, and how e-technologies influence access, sharing, creation, and application of knowledge.
PubMedStress, personal and educational problems in vocational training. A prospective cohort study.
16 Citations2003Sarah Larkins, Margaret Spillman +2 more
Structural changes in the provision of general practice training provide an opportune time to consider ways to ameliorate some of these problems among GP registrars in vocational training, including unsatisfactory work conditions, administrative concerns and issues with rural terms.