Rehabilitation Sciences Students' Perception from Clinical Self-Efficacy Compared to Evaluation by Clinical Teachers

Introduction: Due to the close association between clinical competency and the quality of care concept, clinical competency has a special place in evaluating medical sciences students. This study was performed to investigate perceived clinical self-efficacy among students at the beginning and end of clinical education course and compare it to teachers' evaluation of students’ clinical competencies. Methods: This descriptive correlational cross-sectional study performed on all students of physiotherapy (PT), occupational therapy (OT), speech therapy (ST), and social working (SW) in Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences University. Data was gathered using a researcher made questionnaire distributed at two points, once at the 4th semester and once again at the 8th semester. Data was analyzed using independent t-test and variance analysis. Results: The mean of perceived clinical self-efficacy was in the range of 51-100 for students of all disciplines. The mean score of overall perceived self-efficacy of all students in all disciplines was significantly higher in the 8th semester compared to that of the 4th semester. The correlation coefficient between teachers' evaluation and students' perception from their own clinical self-efficacy was insignificant (r=0.04). Conclusion: Students' self-evaluation of clinical competency could provide valuable and complementary information for evaluating medical sciences students. Setting educational objectives according to students' needs and faculty members’ viewpoints as well as adopting qualitative strategies for educational evaluation and emphasizing on self-efficacy perception in students, may lead to qualitative improvement of educational procedures.