a survey of medical interns’ viewpoints on feedback in internal, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology wards at shiraz university of medical sciences

background: assessment forms the backbone of undergraduate medical training especially in clinical contexts and clerkships, which are typically situated in environments lacking educational structure. this study aims to evaluate the viewpoints of medical interns in internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology wards about feedback and formative assessment. methods: 100 medical interns attending internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics and obstetrics and gynecology wards comprised the subjects of the study. they filled out a questionnaire containing 20 items on formative assessment. the data obtained were analyzed, using spss version 14. results:   among the wards studied the obstetrics & gynecology achieved the highest score and the surgery ward the lowest. the difference between the scores was statistically significant (p = 0.007) conclusion:  the highest score to formative assessment in the obstetrics & gynecology ward reveals the students’ more positive viewpoints on formative assessment in this ward in comparison to the other three major wards. the surgery ward received the lowest score suggesting that the feedback in surgery ward was very low.