Clinical Education Problems: the Viewpoints of Midwifery Students in Babol Medical University

Introduction: Clinical education is a complicated process which is affected by many factors and variables. Since, recognizing the problems is the first step towards reducing them, a study was designed to determine the viewpoints of midwifery students about clinical education problems in Babol Medical University. Methods: In a cross sectional descriptive study, 55 last year midwifery students were selected by census sampling method. The data collection tool was a valid and reliable questionnaire containing 32 items asking about clinical education problems. The scale of the questionnaire was as yes, sometimes, and no. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics and Chi2. Results: Eighty one point eight percent believed that clinical education in midwifery had some problems among which 40% were indicated as high and 41.8% as moderate. Seventy two point seven percent considered clinical education poor in facilities and environmental factors and faced with a lot of problems. Eighty seven point three percent related clinical education problems to trainers’ problems, 83.6% indicated some problems in theoretical pre-clinical courses, 74.5% related the problems to hospital and health centers’ personnel, and 83.7% of subjects felt some problems in clinical evaluation. Conclusion: Lack of expert clinical trainers, and problems in pre-clinical courses and clinical evaluation were the most significant clinical education problems based on the view points of midwifery students in Babol Medical University.