Optimal clinical setting, tutors, and learning opportunities in medical education: A content analysis

INTRODUCTION: As an integral and the most important part of medical education, clinical education provides the opportunity to prepare medical students as professionals. This study explores the standpoints of informants concerning the optimal conditions for clinical education and its components, including learning opportunities, clinical settings, and clinical tutors, with the aim to improve clinical teaching and standards. METHODS: The study design is built on qualitative content analysis with the directed approach. The participants were selected using purposive sampling with maximum variation, and the data were collected through online focus group discussion (FGD) and semi-structured individual interviews conducted either face-to-face or on the telephone. RESULTS: Twenty vice-chancelleries of education and medical education planners from across the country participated in this study. Concepts resulted in four main categories: educational settings, tutors, creating learning opportunities, and learning situations. The concepts were sorted into 15 subcategories, also 21 subclass 1 and 14 subclass 2. The most extensive subcategories comprised variety of educational settings, teaching team conditions, and learning strategies. CONCLUSION: Optimal conditions for clinical education are associated with the use of educational settings close to the real workplace of general practitioners such as general inpatient settings, outpatient settings, and emergency department. Moreover, optimal conditions require the provision of learning opportunities by organized team of tutors and team member empowerment along with policy-making and planning on the national scale by the Ministry of Health in consideration of local conditions.