Introduction: Clinical educators around the globe agreed that an optimal educational climate is a vital aspect for effective learning to take place. This study was conducted to evaluate the perceptions of graduates toward the quality of clinical education climate in USM medical school. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a cohort of USM medical graduates. Questionnaires were administered to the graduates to measure their perception on four aspects of clinical education climate that include structure of clinical rotation, clinical teaching and learning activities, quality of lecturers and end clinical rotation assessment across 13 clinical rotations. The graduates were requested to respond to seven-Likert scale ranging from 1(poor) to 7(excellent). Scores of equal to or more than 5 was considered as positive areas, scores of between 4 and 5 were considered as areas for improvement, and scores less than 4 were considered as areas of concern. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 20. Results: A total of 105 (96.3%) graduates responded to the questionnaire. Results showed only the paediatric rotation obtained positive ratings on all areas of the clinical rotation structure. With regards to teaching and learning activities, the graduates scored most of the clinical rotations between 4 and 5. With regards to the quality of lecturers, most of the clinical rotations obtained score more than 5. Most of the areas related to the end-of-assessment of clinical rotation obtained score more than 5 except for the feedback adequacy, indicating inadequacy of feedback they received. Conclusion: USM medical graduates positively perceived the quality of lecturers during clinical training, however several areas of clinical education related to clinical rotation structure, clinical teaching and learning activities, and feedback practice were perceived by them as areas for improvement. Medical schools should introduce strategic measures to address the concerns raised by the graduates to ensure the best clinical learning experience are provided to the current and future medical students.
Educational environment is an important determinant of medical students’ behaviour. It impacts their
academic performance, motivation, and psychological well-being. Quantitative evidence have shown
that there is a decrease in the positive perception of clinical medical students towards the educational
environment. The primary focus on this study was to explore the clinical education environment
through the lived experience of clinical medical students during medical training. Using hermeneutic
phenomenology we aimed to interpret participants’ experience of personal clinical learning journey
through free text input. Thematic analysis was performed to analyse the written texts. Various
measures were taken to enhance the trustworthiness of the findings. A total of 154 (74.8%) fourth year
students and 144 (74.6%) final year students participated in the study. We identified six overarching
themes of education environment in clinical setting that are personal development, teaching and
learning, assessment for learning, facility, support and nurturing curriculum. The overlapping
relationship of the themes is illustrated in the Clinical Education Environment Framework. While
many themes were consistent with existing framework, our findings also proposed assessment as an
important component to influence perception on education environment. The themes in this study
finding conform to the definition of education environment which covers physical, social, and
psychological aspects of students learning. Medical schools should take active measures to incorporate
a nurturing education environment especially in clinical year where students struggle with the hidden
curriculum.
Lecturers are expected to teach effectively and evaluating their teaching effectiveness are essential to
ensure students get the best learning experience. A systematic evaluation of teaching behaviours with a
proper feedback mechanism will help to improve their teaching effectiveness. Improvement of teaching
effectiveness will result in better students’ learning experience, and thus attaining the intended
educational outcomes. This study aimed to evaluate teaching effectiveness among lecturers by
assessing their teaching behaviours during lectures. A cross-sectional study was conducted on lecturers
in a Malaysian public medical school. Their teaching behaviours were rated by 30 trained pre-clinical
medical students using Teacher Behaviour Inventory (TBI) on seven aspects – organisation, speechpacing,
clarity, enthusiasm, interaction, rapport, and disclosure. A total of 55 lecturers were rated
by the medical students. The organisation and speech-pacing aspects were highly rated as the mean
scores were 4.02 and 4.15, respectively. The clarity, enthusiasm, interaction, and rapport aspects
attained satisfactory level as the mean scores ranged from 3.10 to 3.59. The disclosure aspect was
poorly rated as the mean score was 2.20. Eventhough all lecturers in this school are considered expert
in their area, findings from this study suggest that some teaching behaviour need some improvement.
Findings from this study also provide useful data for the medical school to chart direction of faculty
development activities to improve their lecturers’ teaching effectiveness during lectures.