The European journal of general practice
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The international Bled course for teacher training has played a central role in faculty development in family medicine for the past 25 years. The course was originally designed to promote faculty development for family medicine teachers in the new academic discipline of family medicine in Slovenia in 1990 and to introduce new topics into the family medicine curriculum. In this background paper, we perform a SCOT analysis (strengths, challenges, opportunities, and threats) of the current course, evaluating participant feedback and reviewing past topics and their impact on local and international teaching programmes. ⋯ The course has had a significant impact on curriculum development and teacher training in Slovenia as well as in many other countries in Europe and beyond. Because of the positive impact of the course and the high degree of satisfaction of the participants and course directors, it seems worthwhile to continue this endeavour. New directions for the course will depend on the learning needs of the participants and the evolving medical curricula in the countries they represent.
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DM (diabetes mellitus) patients with poorly regulated blood glucose levels are at risk of increased morbidity and mortality. There are different factors that cause resistance to the initiation of insulin therapy such as beliefs and perceptions concerning diabetes and its treatment and the nature and consequences of insulin therapy. ⋯ Our most significant finding is that a lack of adequate information relating to insulin appears to be the major factor behind DM patients' refusal of insulin treatment. The fact that patients consider insulin treatment as a final solution to DM could be related to resistance to the initiation of insulin therapy. [Box: see text].
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Motivational interviewing (MI) is a collaborative, goal-oriented method to help patients change behaviour. Tools that are often used to measure MI are the motivational interviewing skills code' (MISC), the 'motivational interviewing treatment integrity' (MITI) and the 'behaviour change counselling index' (BECCI). The first two instruments have not been designed to be used in primary healthcare (PHC) settings. The BECCI actually is time-consuming. The motivational interviewing assessment scale (MIAS, 'EVEM' in Spanish) was developed to measure MI in PHC encounters as an alternative to the previous instruments. ⋯ The MIAS is a consistent and reliable instrument to assess the use of MI in PHC settings. [Box: see text].