Iranian Journal of Medical Education

Introduction: Medical education quality improvement is a major issue in Iran’s medical education system. One of the strategies for medical education quality improvement is evaluation of the status quo and identification of the weaknesses. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate educational departments of Kashan Shahid Beheshti Teaching Hospital according to clinical education standards in line with the education reform plan and accreditation package.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 210 stagers and interns of Shahid Beheshti Teaching Hospital of Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2016. Subjects were selected by means of census method and data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. The viewpoints of stagers and interns about the conformity of educational programs (round, grand round and morning report) with clinical education standards in departments of pediatrics, internal medicine, general surgery, cardiology, infectious diseases, neurology and specific surgery were assessed.

Results: The highest rate of desirability of round from the viewpoints of stagers was related to infectious diseases (77.3%) and cardiology (66.7%) departments and from the viewpoints of interns was related to infectious diseases (60%) and neurology (40%) departments. The highest rate of desirability of grand round from the viewpoints of both stagers and interns was related to infectious diseases department (86.7% and 80% respectively). The highest rate of desirability of morning report from the viewpoints of both stagers and interns was related to the infectious diseases department (46.7% and 80% respectively).

Conclusion: Given the moderately desirable status of educational programs in most of the departments, faculty members should get familiarized with new trends in medical education and clinical education standards through holding clinical education workshops and be encouraged to follow these standards. Moreover, departments should make efforts to eliminate weaknesses and achieve the desirable status.