The status of Clinical education in ophthalmology surgery ward of Vali-e-Asr Hospital affiliated with Birjand University of Medical Science before and after intervention

Introduction: Clinical education is one of most important medical education courses in Medicine. Medical education is in turn part of the higher education system that deals with human life, and thereby it is important to pay attention to its quantitative and qualitative aspects. In this study, we aimed to investigate the status of clinical education in ophthalmology ward of Vali-e-Asr Hospital in Birjand before and after an intervention. Methods: This Descriptive-interventional study was conducted on students and interns in the ophthalmology department of Vali-e-Asr Hospital during one year. The number of participants was 30 (on average, 4-6 people per month). A questionnaire was first designed in 5 fields (Reviewing educational activities, studying the educational environment, reviewing patients' records, assessing the duties of trainees, and assessing the duties of interns). The questionnaires were later evaluated by 5 faculty members for validity, and after confirmation, the ophthalmology surgery ward was assessed in 3 months. Interventions were performed by the head and the deputy of the faculty of medicine. Eight months later, assessment was again carried out by the same researcher. The results were encoded and entered into SPSS 15 software and analyzed at the level of P ≤ 0.05 by independent t-test. Results: After intervention in the field of educational activities, the score increased from 6 to 10 (P = 0.13). The educational environment score increased from 7 to 14 (P = 0.002). The mean score of assessments of interns before and after intervention was equal to 8. The mean scores for patients' records improved from 8.23 ± 1.98 to 8.92 ± 1.65 (P = 0.04). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that physical changes in the educational spaces by the authorities can be easily accomplished and the educational environment can be improved by planning. It requires more action however to create changes in educational programs, improve the quality of clinical education, provide emergency training to students, and make plans by authorities.