A survey of the quality and quantity of clinical education from the viewpoint of medical students

Abstract

Introduction: Clinical education is a process during which students gradually acquire skills for clinical management of patients by visiting patients. The aim of this study was to determine the quality and quantity of clinical education from the view point of junior and senior doctors. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive, analytical study. All clinical students of the faculty of medicine in YUMS in the year 1385-1386 were surveyed after they gave their informed written consent. Data were collected by a researcher made questionnaire with approved validity and reliability. 54 students totally consisted of personal identification, the quality and quantity of attending, clinical education, and educational contexts were assessed. Each question had four choice options and the cutoff point was considered 60 out of 100. After the primary data analysis, the students were asked to take part in a Focus Group Discussion to have a conclusion of their ultimate opinions. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: 68% of the students evaluated the quality of clinical education unsatisfactory and 48% of them assessed the instructors as unsatisfactory. The interns were significantly assessed as unsatisfactory in OBS-GYN, surgery and internal wards more than stagers. Conclusion: Quality and quantity of clinical education of the faculty of medicine was evaluated as undesirable from view point of students. Totally, clinical education requires further attention from the different perspectives.

Challenges and Problems of Clinical Medical Education in Iran: A Systematic Review of the Literature

“…Other issues that have affected clinical education are resource problems and facilities. The results of the present study showed that the necessary infrastructures such as lack of access to the Internet and web-based educational resources (18,21,26), lack of availability and updating of library resources (31,34) and lack of access to educational journals (31) are important things that can lead to student dissatisfaction.…”

“…Masic et al in a study in Sarajevo found that students considered the most important factor in improving the quality of medical education as having up-to-date educational facilities (55). On the other hand, lack of physical resources such as inadequate library space (34), insufficient number of computers in hospitals (31) and lack of human resources such as experts and faculty members (26,27,33,37) are among the factors affecting the quality of clinical education.…”

“…International research has referred to the shortage of staff (faculty) (56) and nurses (57) in clinical education. Findings regarding the physical condition of the clinical education environment indicate that hospitals are facing a shortage of educational facilities (13,18,27,31,34) and equipment (15,23,24,32,49).…”

“…Also, cases such as dispersed and inconsistent discussions at the bedside (4,38), specialization of teaching in clinical rounds (20,21,27,33,47), inadequate level of students with specialized and sub-specialized fields (27,30), inappropriateness of examination of complex clinical cases for interns (26), limited clinical training time (27,31,50) and lack of time to discuss patients in clinical rounds (19,27) lead to disruptions in student learning and double the necessity of creating specific frameworks and criteria for conducting clinical rounds.…”

“…The gap between theoretical and practical knowledge at the bedside and the discrepancies between the two (22,30) should be taken into account in educational planning. Research findings show that learning experiences do not meet students' professional needs (33,45) and place greater emphasis on teaching theoretical concepts rather than clinical education and clinical skills (31). Therefore, consideration should be given to tailoring and bringing theory lessons into practice in educational planning.…”