Assessment of Clinical Education Quality from Viewpoint of Midwifery Students in Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2019

Background: As an essential area in medical education, clinical education provides midwifery students with the foundation of their professional skills. Effective and efficient clinical education has a great role in clinical education quality. Objective: This study aimed to determine the clinical education quality from the viewpoints of midwifery students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 245 midwifery students at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2019. Data were collected using a demographic and educational information questionnaire and clinical education quality assessment questionnaire (SERVQUAL), comprising five domains and a self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage of frequency for qualitative variables) and inferential statistics, including t-test, and ANOVA in SPSS18. Results: A negative gap was observed between students' expectations and perceptions of the clinical education quality in all five dimensions (p<0.001). Empathy (-1.24±1.68) and assurance (-1.30±1.04) showed the largest and narrowest gaps, respectively. Conclusion: Due to the negative gap in the clinical education quality, universities and educators are recommended to identify educational shortcomings and accordingly take necessary measures to make up for them.