PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Holly Rose Hanlon AU - Lucia Prihodova AU - Thelma Russell AU - Deirdre Donegan AU - Ann O'Shaughnessy AU - Hilary Hoey TI - Doctors’ engagement with a formal system of continuing professional development in Ireland: a qualitative study in perceived benefits, barriers and potential improvements AID - 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049204 DP - 2021 Nov 01 TA - BMJ Open PG - e049204 VI - 11 IP - 11 4099 - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/11/e049204.short 4100 - http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/11/11/e049204.full SO - BMJ Open2021 Nov 01; 11 AB - Objectives To examine experiences of participation in a mandatory system of continuing professional development (CPD) among doctors in Ireland, in order to identify areas for improvement.Design A qualitative cross-sectional design was used.Participants 1408 participants (701 male, 707 female) were recruited via email from a population of 4350 doctors enrolled on a Royal College of Physicians of Ireland Professional Competence Scheme (PCS) for the 2017/2018 year, and completed an online survey as part of a larger study examining experiences and attitudes towards participation in PCS. A subset of the sample (434 participants) responded to an optional open-ended question about PCS participation. Responses to the open-ended question were analysed using thematic analysis.Results Thematic analysis resulted in five main themes relating to perceived barriers to PCS participation across a wide range of areas: ‘Evidence of participation’, ‘The structure of PCS’, ‘Questioning the benefits of formal CPD’, ‘Workplace challenges’ and ‘Access issues’.Conclusions Taken together, the five themes outlined in this study give a wide-ranging, in-depth picture of the challenges faced by Irish doctors, which expand on well-documented factors such as time constraints, to illustrate a series of complex, interacting factors. Some barriers, such as difficulty obtaining evidence of participation, may be relatively easily addressed. Others, such as issues with the way the PCS is structured, are more intractable, and require further research to understand more fully and develop appropriate solutions.Data are available on reasonable request. As per the ethical approval, the data will not be shared outside of the participating research institutions. Any sharing of the data beyond the group will be subject to review by the host institution (Royal College of Physicians of Ireland) and to independent research ethics application. Any queries on how to access the dataset should be directed to research@rcpi.ie.