Trainees' views on clinical education in inpatient and surgical departments at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background: General practitioners acquire most of their learning in internal and surgical departments. The purpose of this study was to determine the current status of education in these departments from the students' point of view to help improve clinical education. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Alzahra hospital in Isfahan, Iran. The target population consisted of clerkships in two departments of internal medicine and surgery in the academic year of 2017-2018. A researcher-made tools was used to collect data, and after completion by the clerkships, data were reported descriptively. Quantitative data were reported as mean ± standard deviation and qualitative number (percent). Findings: Out of 260 questionnaires, 154 were completed (response rate of 60). The highest mean percentage of achievement of clinical skills in both internal (68.71 ± 68.71) and surgical (56.95 ± 27.98) groups was history taking, and the lowest in both internal (20.81 ± 23.20) and surgical (26.44 ± 13.37) groups was practical skills. The most suitable person/place to teach all the skills, except the practical skills, was the teachers/on the bed, and for the practical skills, was practice and personal experience/on the bed. Conclusion: The level of clinical skills acquisition is not desirable, and the lowest results are related to practical skills. It seems that bedside teaching by the clinical teachers has played the most important role in increasing the skills of clerkship in various fields. Further studies are needed to determine the exact factors affecting the achievement of clinical skills. © 2022 Isfahan University of Medical Sciences(IUMS). All rights reserved.