Exploring the effective elements on the personal and professional development among health-care providers: A qualitative study

J Educ Health Promot. 2022 Aug 25:11:256. doi: 10.4103/jehp.jehp_1405_21. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Background: A new domain of "personal and professional development" was introduced as a core competency of health-care providers. This study aimed to explore the experiences of learners and faculty members about what competencies or skills were essential for the professional development and success of health-care providers.

Materials and methods: This is a qualitative study using an inductive content analysis approach in 2019-2020. In the present study, 58 academic faculty members participated by purposeful sampling including ten associate professors (17.24%) and 24 assistance professors (41.37%), in addition to 23-year medical residents (20.65%) and 4th-year nursing students (20.65%). Individual and group interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed by the inductive content analysis approach introduced by Graneheim and Lundman.

Results: The qualitative data were classified in 953 open codes and eight categories, which were further divided into four main categories: "socio-emotional skills," "life-long learning skills," "coping skills," and "well-being strategies."

Conclusions: The present results showed socioemotional and coping skills affect interpersonal and professional interactions that contributed to their improved health-care providers' capabilities. Participants also considered lifelong learning as influential in developing professional capabilities and keeping their knowledge and skills up-to-date for accountability to duties. Moreover, using well-being strategies protects the mental and physical health of health-care providers. These skills are synergistic, and their combination can have a significant role in improving the personal and professional capabilities.

Keywords: Competency; crisis; personal development success; professional development; qualitative study.