Assessment of clinical education stressors among undergraduate students of radiology and nuclear medicine of Kermanshah University of medical sciences 2014

Introduction: Radiography students are experiencing numerous stressors in clinical education by working with ionizing radiation and complex medical imaging equipment. This study aimed to determine stressors in clinical education of undergraduate students of radiology and nuclear medicine.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 123 students volunteered to participate in the study.  They had been trained in at least one clinical education course centers in 1393. A questionnaire was developed by the researchers consisting of 4 domains of stressors in clinical education after confirming its content validity and reliability. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics using SPSS software-18 including mean, standard deviation and Kendall's correlation coefficient with a significance level of p<0.05.

Results: The most stressful area was learning environment with an average of 2.9 ± .9. The most significant stressor in clinical education was imaging of critically ill patients with an average of 3.4 ± 1.3. The mean scores to clinical education stressors experienced by non-native students were higher than native students (p=0.04).

Conclusion: Radiography students are exposed to multiple stressors in clinical education processes. Providing adequate opportunity for learning, effective supporting teachers and revising tools and the evaluation process of students is essential in the process of modifying clinical education stressors.