Emergency Medicine Faculty Members’ Experiences of Clinical Training Environments: A Qualitative Study

Appropriate clinical environment has an important role in preparing students to use learned knowledge in practice by providing learning opportunities. With regard to the recent complexities of clinical teaching, sensitivity to various environmental factors, recent changes in clinical environments and multiple roles of clinical faculty, a comprehensive study of this phenomenon seemed necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explain emergency medicine faculty members’ experiences of clinical training environments.

This qualitative study utilizes a conventional content analysis method. Data were collected through purposive sampling, semi-structured individual interviews with the emergency medicine faculty members of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, and field observations in 2017-18 academic year. The data were analyzed in MAXQDA using the inductive method. Open codes were first extracted and classified into subcategories that, in turn, were organized under the main categories based on their meaning similarities.

Three main categories and six subcategories were extracted: structure and characteristics of the emergency department trainings (administrative support, physical structure), clinical reasoning methods (autonomic, automatic), and processing of the clinical learning environment (formal teachings, informal teachings).

The results of this study can help managers and curriculum planners better understand the process of faculty members’ perception of clinical learning environments. A deeper understanding of these perceptions can improve the faculty members’ perception of these environments and consequently, students can be guided toward developing their personal and professional talents and competencies.