Comparison of quality of clinical supervision as perceived by attending physicians and residents in university teaching hospitals in Tehran

Background: Clinical supervision is an important factor in the development of competency in residency program. Attending physicians play a key role in supervision of residents. However little is known about how attending physicians and residents perceive the quality of clinical supervision. The aim of this study was to explore the differences between perceived qualities of supervision in these two groups in different wards in teaching hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Methods: A valid questionnaire were completed by 219 attending physicians and residents from surgery, psychiatry, gynecology, pediatrics, internal medicine, orthopedics and radiology wards in two teaching hospital affiliated to Iran University of Medical Sciences. This questionnaire contained 15 items in regards to supervisory roles, rated on a five point Likert scale (1=never, 2=seldom, 3=sometimes, 4=often, 5=always). Results: Out of 219 participants, 90 (41%) were attending physicians and 129 (59%) were residents. The overall mean±SD scores of perceived clinical supervision achieved by attending physicians and residents were respectively, 4.20±0.5 and 3.00±0.7 which was statistically significant (p<0.05). Attending physicians and residents acquired minimum scores (mean=4.06 and 2.7, respectively) regarding expectation from their supervisor to know and do during training period of residency. Conclusion: It seems that the clinical supervisory does not have an efficient performance in teaching hospitals which needs to be more assessed and improved. Therefore it is suggested that policymakers in medical education system pay more attention to this important issue and enhance some faculty development programs for clinical educators in Iran.