The Open University pack on coronary heart disease: reactions of Welsh general practitioners

The introduction of the new Open University distance learning pack on coronary heart disease to a selected group of Welsh general practitioners has been evaluated. The most commonly perceived disadvantages were the amount of time required to study the pack, the cost of buying it and the work involved in implementing its study in a practice by the whole primary-care team. Despite a relatively high level of awareness among the group, only 17% declared a positive intention to introduce the pack and another 17% thought they 'probably' would. Contact with primary care facilitators and informal feedback from colleagues appeared to distinguish those general practitioners who were motivated to try innovative postgraduate learning methods in their practices from the rest of the sample. The implications of trying to disseminate novel kinds of teaching material to general practitioners are considered.