It is essential to provide excellent clinical education to medical students to ensure they can provide top-notch patient care and have a positive learning experience. Clinical education experiences significantly impact students' motivation, confidence, and satisfaction with their acquired skills and knowledge. Therefore, a study was conducted in Iran to evaluate the relationship between teaching quality and medical students' satisfaction with clinical teachers. This study is the first of its kind in Iran.
The results showed that the level of satisfaction of medical students with clinical education was moderate. Today, the health of a society is vital for its economic and social development. Providing and maintaining quality healthcare services is critical to developing a country. Consequently, having skilled medical students is essential to achieve this goal [27]. Medical schools need qualified professors to guide and teach students. However, attracting and retaining these professors becomes difficult due to a lack of time and resources. Medical school administrators should prioritize clinical faculty recruitment, retention and support [28]. Beidokhti et al.'s study showed that clinical students and teachers are satisfied with clinical records. The new evaluation profile is an effective tool for measuring students' clinical performance. It has the necessary conditions for evaluating their job performance, academic and practical skills, and behavior [29]. Effective clinical education is critical to the future of patient care. Therefore, solid clinical training is essential to produce physicians who can provide high-quality health care [30].
The study found that professional attitude towards students and feedback had the highest scores among the dimensions of the quality of clinical education, which was consistent with Boldaji et al.'s research [25]. Professionalism in medicine is essential and includes effective communication, ethical behavior, empathy and high competence. A well-designed curriculum emphasizing ethical principles and interactive teaching methods can help students develop these skills [31]. Maintaining a professional attitude is vital for medical students and doctors, especially in health care [32]. Professional education strengthens one's intellectual capacity to shape future actions. The curriculum for professional development should reflect the essential characteristics of an experienced physician in a particular culture [33].
Student feedback is essential for the professional development of clinical instructors. It helps them identify areas for improvement, correct their misjudgments, and implement democratic principles. However, it requires certain conditions to be effective [34]. Effective methods for evaluating the quality of medical education include self-evaluation and student feedback. Student feedback is most valuable because it provides insights into the learning experience, instructor competency, and areas for improvement. Combining student feedback with other methods increases the overall quality of medical education [35]. Experts suggest that it is essential to assess medical students' communication skills during the clinical years through observation and feedback because failure to do so can lead to a decline in these skills [13].
Based on the results of our study, the participants scored the lowest in the learning environment dimension. This was while promoting self‑learning, which had the lowest score in the survey of Boldaji et al. [25]. Clinical education involves hands-on learning about patients and their medical concerns [36]. Medical students acquire clinical skills by rotating through various internships in hospitals and clinics. Each clinical learning environment (CLE) has unique characteristics that provide learning opportunities from role models and implicit curriculum. Medical students experience a sudden change in learning as they move from classrooms to hospitals. Hospital learning is less structured and more hierarchical, making students feel uncomfortable and uncertain about reporting malpractice [37]. Medical students can improve clinical learning environments by collaborating on a dedicated committee of educators and learners at all levels.
Linear regression analysis showed that evaluation, feedback, and student location significantly affect the satisfaction of clinical teachers' training. Checking the level of satisfaction in any field can help to identify and solve existing problems and shortcomings. Using this information can improve students' satisfaction by strengthening the positive factors and correcting the negative ones [38]. Learners in the clinical stage must acquire sufficient learning and skills and can use this knowledge. Evaluation of clinical education is necessary to achieve the desired results in clinical education. Based on research, paying attention to students' opinions and continuously improving the quality of educational services increases student satisfaction [39]. Medical professors have the dual task of sharing medical knowledge and developing logical thinking in students. However, teaching evaluation presents challenges such as reduced communication, shallow teaching models, and repetitive evaluation components. Modern medical education should focus on student feedback and participation to overcome these issues and improve teaching methods [40].
Receiving feedback is critical to learning, but students may find it difficult in clinical settings. In the past, feedback was a one-way communication from teacher to student. However, it is now a cycle in which both parties play an essential role. This cycle involves assessing the difference between actual and expected performance, learning from it, re-evaluating and closing the gap [41]. Feedback is essential in teaching clinical skills. It provides an unbiased performance assessment, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement. Learners can then identify areas that need attention and improve their skills. Feedback should be specific, actionable, and related to goals. With appropriate feedback, learners become competent healthcare professionals [42].
The results of our study based on the linear regression model showed that the state of residence was related to the participant's level of satisfaction with the clinical teachers. It can be inferred that students living in dorms with high satisfaction may have easier access to resources. In addition, because of the shared living environment, living in the dormitory allows students to learn and exchange experiences with each other. Also, usually in the dormitories, tutors and academic advisors are available to guide and answer students' questions. This social support can facilitate the improvement of understanding and use of educational materials and, as a result, increase students' satisfaction with clinical teaching and, subsequently, satisfaction with the clinical teachers.
Limitations
For the first time, this study aimed to determine if there is a relationship between the quality of teaching and satisfaction with clinical teachers among medical students. The results indicated a positive correlation between teaching quality and satisfaction with clinical professors. However, the study had some limitations, including its cross-sectional design, which prevented establishing causal relationships between variables. Additionally, the study was limited to medical students in Ardabil city, which may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research can use long-term study designs like cohort studies to address these limitations and investigate the cause-and-effect relationships between variables. Moreover, conducting this study in different geographical areas and examining medical students from other cities can increase the generality and depth of the results and their applicability to wider societies.