Evaluation System problems & maintaining professional behavior; The perspective of healthcare providers in Iran

Background and Objectives: This paper has attempted to explore physicians and staffs' views about evaluation system problems and its impact on maintaining professional behavior in clinical setting within the context of Iran. Methods: Data were collected through 22 focus group sessions from October 2015 to March 2016. Findings: All of the participants were Iranian nationals, and educate or work in one of the hospitals affiliated with the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS). Regarding evaluation challenges, 173 most expressed codes were categorized as follows: “lack of appropriate evaluation”, “weakness in supervision”, and “feedback system problems. Conclusions: In order to professionalism improvement in clinical setting, evaluation and supervision needed more attention. Appropriate supervision and evaluation systems should be defined, evaluations should be performed in safe environments, proper feedback should be provided for professional performance in individual and group levels, and finally the effect of these steps on professionalism improvement should be assessed.