Assessment of Clinical Educational Environment from viewpoints of Post-Graduate Dental Students using PHEEM

Appropriate clinical educational environment has an important role in the success and academic achievements of the learners and makes educational programs effective. Considering that evaluation of the clinical educational environment and designing a plan to improve it is a necessity for the development of medical education, this study was designed to assess clinical educational environment of Tabriz Dental Faculty in 2021.

In this cross-sectional analytical study has been done on post-graduate students of orthodontics, pediatrics, prosthetics, radiology, oral disease, surgery, endodontics, restorative and periodontics disciplines (67 participants) in 2021. The data collection tool was PHEEM questionare, which was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance through SPSS.

The mean total score of the educational environment was 85.65, so the students assessed the environment as relatively favorable. The mean of the total scores in three subscales of students' perception of teaching, role autonomy and social support were 33.19 (moving in the right direction), 29.42 (more positive perception of individual’s role) and 23.06 (more pros than cons), respectively. One-way analysis of variance showed that the difference in the mean scores between different disciplines was significant (p <0.001).

The clinical educational environment of Tabriz Dental School was assessed as relatively favorable. In the process of improving the educational environment, indicators such as providing a supportive mechanism that responds to the social and personal needs of the students, holding meetings at the beginning of the course, improving welfare facilities and providing more clinical learning opportunities can be mentioned.