Perceived challenges by the Iranian baccalaureate surgical technology students in their clinical education: A qualitative study

Abstract

The operating room field in Iran is a branch of medical sciences during this period, students became become familiar with the new principles of the operation room and modern surgical techniques in specialized and super specialized surgeries and they train the care and assistance to the patient's administration before, during and after operation. The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how the students are taught, the effective factors and possible challenges related to educational issues in the operating room. This is a qualitative content analysis which was performed in 2014-2015. The participants consisted of 35 beneficiaries in the operating room field, namely, students of different academic terms, matrons, educators (instructors), surgeons and operating room personnel in different academic centers in Khorasan Razavi province who were rich in information and had a tendency to comment on their experience. In this study, sampling was first carried out in a targeted way and then was continued with theoretical sampling and sampling was continued until data saturation. All interviews were recorded and then handwritten and analyzed using continuous comparative method and qualitative content analysis. The profound and deep descriptions of the participants led to the emergence of 13 subcategories and 3 main categories of the "unconventional educational atmosphere", "the challenge of student admission to the surgical team," the "operating room culture" and, finally, one main theme of the "dynamic nature of the operating room". The special educational environment in the operating room environment, lack of acceptance of students in the surgical team as a training member and hierarchical culture of the operating room, has created problems for the training of these students. In fact, the clinical training of operating room students is based on teamwork and the members of the surgical team are, in some cases, instructors in the shade. Given the dynamic nature of the operating room, collaboration and participation between educational and clinical institutions can help improve the learning environment, acceptance students in the surgical team as a training member, and creating a dynamic, collaborative and flexible culture.