The Attitude of Residents, Interns and Clerkship Students towards Teaching Role of Residents

Introduction: Appropriate and effective education for medical students is critically important in promoting and maintaining society's health and the role of residents is undeniable in medical students' education. The aim of this study was to determine the attitude of clerkship students, Interns and residents towards the teaching role of residents in Sari Medical School in 2007. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the statistical population included all clerkship students, interns, and residents (n=250) in all wards having residents in medical school of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in 2007. Using census sampling method, 192 persons were investigated. The data gather-ing tool was a questionnaire including 4 demographic and 20 attitude items. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, Chi², and ANOVA. Results: Among respondents, 47%, 39% and 13% were clerkship students, interns, and residents , respect-ively. The participants' attitudes were dissimilar in different clinical departments. The most positive attitude belonged to psychiatry department (70% with positive attitude) and after that in pediatrics, gynecology, internal medicine, and surgery departments, 50% or less had a positive attitude. The attitude of residents was much more positive than that of clerkship students and interns. So that, 23% of clerkship students, 38% of interns, and 58% of residents had a positive attitude and none of the residents had a negative attitude toward their own education. Conclusion: The attitude of participants towards the teaching role of residents was dissimilar in different wards and the attitude of residents was much dissimilar to that of clerkship students and interns. It is necessary to pay more attention to the teaching role of residents.