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Previous studies of poetry in healthcare education have investigated self-selected groups. Many have been descriptive, whilst others speculated on utility and justification. This study explores perceptions of learners, a cohort of 13 registrars in one general practice training scheme, who experienced poetry-based sessions within their curriculum. The study's design was naturalistic, consisting of two poetry-based small group sessions, facilitated by a course organiser. The first session used poems selected by the facilitator, the second, poems selected by the registrars. Poems were read and then discussed, with an emphasis on individuals sharing their personal responses to the poems. This paper reports the first stage of the study, which utilised questionnaires and a focus group to investigate the perceptions of the entire cohort. The second stage, involving individual in-depth interviews with six registrars, will be reported in another publication. Poetry sessions were considered enjoyable and effective, even by those previously sceptical. These sessions required no expert literary resource, just a facilitator with a willingness to explore the learners' responses to the poems. The registrars identified benefits that may help doctors, both personally and professionally. Potential impacts on patient care were also identified. Differences between the two types of poetry session are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]