Abstract:

Objective To investigate the status of training quality of clinical postgraduate students, and analyse the potential problems. Methods Cluster random sampling method was utilized to select 415 clinical postgraduate students 622 who graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine between 2006 and 2009 and worked in 26 hospitals in Shanghai. The training quality of clinical postgraduate students was evaluated by department leaders or personnel staff on the aspects of ethical norms, professional ability, career development ability, health status and scientific research ability, and the results were compared with those of self-evaluation from the graduates. Results The aspects of training quality which were poorly thought of by the employers were the ability of critical thinking (21.62%), creativity （36.0%）and professional knowledge (36.04%). There were significant differences in the evaluation of training quality between employers and graduates (P<0.05). Employers emphasized on the cultivation of professional values, while graduates paid more attention to the training of professional skills. There were significant differences in the training quality among graduates with different family background, permanent residential place and undergraduate universities evaluated by the employers （P<0.05）. Factor analysis yielded 4 common factors, which were professional knowledge and skills, transferable skills, research capacity and professional values. Conclusion Employers deem that the graduates lack the ability in innovation and scientific research. Employers and graduates hold different opinions with regard to the goal of clinical postgraduate training. The family background, permanent residential place and undergraduate university may influence the training quality of clinical postgraduate students. Professional knowledge and skills, transferable skills, research capacity and professional values should be considered to evaluate the training quality of clinical postgraduate students.

Key words: clinical medicine, postgraduate students, training quality, empirical research