Objectives

Medical institutions must provide learning experiences that enhance the knowledge and perspectives of Sustainable Development (SD) to prepare trainees of family medicine to become competent global citizens. The aim of this study was to develop an SD online learning module for trainees of family medicine.

Design

This mixed-methods study was conducted from January 2020 to May 2021, beginning with a literature review concerning Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in medicine. In-depth interviews were held to assess the relevant needs of family medicine training, followed by a two-round Delphi survey with experienced educators (n = 21) in family medicine to refine and achieve consensus on the appropriate SDG topics for family physicians.

Setting

All residency training programmes in Thailand.

Participants

Members of the Residency Training Committee, Royal College of Family Physicians of Thailand.

Results

The literature review and in-depth interviews identified 12 topics of SD that were required for family physicians. The first round of the Delphi survey was concluded by identifying 7 core topics with additional suggestions. In the second round, a consensus was obtained among the experienced educators regarding 7 core topics: 1) A definition of SD, 2) Principles of SD, 3) SDG, 4) A new concept of SD, 5) SD in the context of Thailand, 6) SD and principles of family medicine and 7) SD and family practice. These core topics were grouped within three main objectives and three sub-modules.

Conclusions

An online learning module of SD for family physicians was developed using a modified Delphi method. This included three sub-modules: 1) Concept and principles of SD, 2) SDG and 3) SD and its integration with family practice. This online learning module will provide additional resources for trainees of family medicine and Thai family physicians to expand their knowledge and perspectives of sustainable development.

A Delphi method was used to achieve consensus on the core topics of a sustainable development learning module for family physicians. In the Delphi method, equal weights are given to the opinions of each individual. The surveys are blinded to ensure anonymity and several rounds or iterations are conducted so that the experts can consider the results of previous rounds and change their answers if they wish.

We modified the Delphi method. We used both questionnaire survey and open-ended questions in the first round. All issues emanating from the open-ended questions and free-text comments were added to the questionnaire in the second round.