Iranian physicians’ experience with participation in a balint group trial: A qualitative study

Abstract

Balint Work is getting introduced and Balint Group Trials are being held in Iran in recent years. This is the first study of a Balint-group-trial participated by Iranian General Practitioners (GPs). This was a qualitative study to explore the themes which feature the GP’s described experience of their participation. A phenomenological approach was applied to examine the GPs’experience of participation in a seven-session Balint-group-trial. The participants were eight Iranian GPs working in the primary health-care network of Natanz-lran. A focus group and in-depth semi-structured interviews were applied and the transcribed Verbatim were analyzed through a phenomenological explorative and descriptive process by a three-membered research team. Three ground themes and four main-themes emerged as the main features through which the participant-GPs had explained their experience. The main themes werel- Improving the Skills and Wisdom of Doctor-Patient-Relationship 2- Exceptional Training Method/Learning Experience 3- Emotional healing for doctors 4-Job Morality Inspirations. Iranian physicians described their participation in a Balint group trial as a missing, needed and valuable experience of different sort of a peer-discussion-group, an insight-inducing and skill-improving one and an emotionally-supportive one. Minor particularities and major similarities were found between the participation experience as portrayed by Iranian physicians and by physicians of other countries. The study also adds a demonstration of the trans-cultural nature of the Balint group experience. © 2019, Vesnu Publications. All rights reserved.