Assessing the Knowledge and Attitudes of Medical Students and Graduates about Clinical Governance

In order to implement clinical governance successfully, it should be perceived positively and there must be a positive attitude towards it. The current policy of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education about clinical governance requires assessing the knowledge and attitudes of medical students to identify their educational needs and the necessary steps needed to be taken in educational planning, designing and modification of the courses. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of medical students and graduates about clinical governance in 1391. This is a descriptive–analytic study. This research was conducted on 159 students from different medical fields simple random sampling method. For data collecting, a researcher-made questionnaire was used which its validity was confirmed by using content validity and construct validity. To determine the reliability of the questionnaire, internal consistency and Cronbach''s Alpha were used for field of knowledge (0.78) and attitude (0.68). For data analysis, SPSS version 11.5 software was applied using exploratory factor analysis method. 64% of the participants were female and 36% were male. 71% of the participants were in the health care management field and 29% from other medical fields. Mean and standard deviation of knowledge and attitude scores were 64.2 ± 5.8 and 13.06 ± 3.02 respectively. Comparing the students'' and graduates’ knowledge and attitudes with their educational level showed no significant correlation. (P> 0.05) Although, there was a significant correlation between educational level and attitude (P = 0.001). In higher levels of education, students'' attitude towards clinical governance reduced. The knowledge of medical students and graduates was estimated average to high about clinical governance but their attitude was very poor. This reflects negative views of medical students despite the sufficient knowledge about the principles and components of clinical governance. Therefore, appropriate measures should be conducted for localization of clinical governance within ministry and universities to create the culture of clinical governance more acceptable in Iran’s society.