Effective Factors in Evaluation of University Professors’ Teaching: Clinical Residents’ Point of View in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences

Introduction: One approach for the promotion of medical education is to evaluate the university professors’ teaching performance. A commonly-used technique is the student-based evaluation. This study aimed at determining the effective factors in the student-based evaluation of the university teachers’ performance in clinical education. Methods:This is a descriptive cross-sectional survey performed on medical residents in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in June 2009. Data was collected by a questionnaire containing 44 items arranged in two sections. The respondents evaluated the statements on a five level Likert scale. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS-16. Results: In the clinical education domain, 94.4% of residents evaluated "the education during operation" as the most important factor. Other important factors were "the explanation ability" (86%) in the teaching ability domain, the "professors' knowledge ability and expertise" (93.5%) in the knowledge and skill domain, and "non-judgmental and non-humiliating behavior" (79%) in the personal characteristics and comportment domain. From the residents’ viewpoint, the most important educational domain affecting the evaluation of the academic members were the clinical education domain (average 4.39%) and the professors' knowledge ability and expertise (average 4.29%). Conclusion: Considering the nature of residency, practical training is of great importance. This study indicated that residents also consider practical training factors influential in evaluating their professors’ performance. The study pinpointed clinical education, teaching ability, comportment and personal characteristics, and knowledge and skill domain as important domains in evaluating university professors.