Researchable Clinical Problems from the Viewpoint of Healthcare Providers: A Qualitative Study

Background and purpose: There is lack of concordance between researchers' interests and clinical problems. This study aimed at explaining researchable clinical problems from the perspective of healthcare providers to provide a better understanding of the issues that could be solved by the health system. Materials and methods: This qualitative study was carried out in 27 healthcare providers in selected hospitals affiliated to Golestan University of Medical Sciences, 2017. The participants were selected by purposive sampling. Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was used to collect the data. The participants explained their experiences through three FGDs which began with a broad open-ended question and further probing questions were used. Interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results: The participants aged 25-53 years old with 2-26 years of clinical experience, among whom 59% were males. The analysis of data led to the development of four main themes. The researchable clinical problems included clinical problems associated with health system structure, the status of healthcare providers, the status of service delivery in the health system and needs assessment, and problems associated with clinical processes. Conclusion: Current study suggests that after determining the priority of researchable problems regional issues should be addressed in designing and performing clinical researches.