Table 1. Topic guide for the interviews in both sampled groups of family physicians (FPs).

Aim	To explore how FPS come to suspect pulmonary embolism using two groups: FPs who had recently diagnosed a case of PE; and FPs chosen using a purposeful sampling method
Ice breaking question	For the first group	You have recently seen in consultation Mr/Mrs X for a suspected PE, would you tell me what happened?
	For the second group	Would you tell me about one case of pulmonary embolism you have diagnosed?
Questions for taking the discussion further	In your opinion, what are the risk factors for pulmonary embolism?
	What kind of diagnostic test do you use? (ECG, saturation, d dimer, gasometry, x ray)
	What use do you make of clinical scoring systems?
Reopening questions	For the first group	How do you generally diagnose PE?
	For the second group	Some of you talked about using conviction and belief in the diagnosis of pulmonary embolism. What do you think about this idea?
		What are you looking for in particular during auscultation?
		What importance do you attach to anxiety?
		How well did you know the patient? How important was that to you?