Satisfaction of Clinical Teachers on Standardized Residency Training Program (SRTP) in China: A Cross-Sectional Survey

Abstract

Background: The Standardized Residency Training Program (SRTP) is a significant initiative to deepen health systems and medical education in developing countries like China. Despite the promotion of the SRTP nationwide and its implementation with various improvements, Chinese continuous medical education is still in its infancy. Compared with the residents, little is known about clinical teachers under the SRTP in China. However, clinical teachers effectively determine the training quality as critical disseminators of knowledge, skills, and values in medical practice. Thus, the study aims to analyze critical factors affecting their cognitive job satisfaction and provide continuous improvements for SRTP. Methods: From 1 December 2018 to 31 May 2019, we conducted a self-designed questionnaire with 13 SRTPs (including both training bases and professional bases) in Shaoxing city to evaluate clinical teachers’ satisfaction. Altogether, 574 clinical teachers responded to the survey expressing generally high overall satisfaction. We adopted a Chi-square test and Fisher’s Exact Test to evaluate the single impact factors affecting the satisfaction of clinical teachers. The multiple factors analysis applied the logistic regression model. Results: The male clinical teachers had significant differences in satisfaction with the teaching content (OR: 0.675, [95% CI: 0.477~0.953]), conflicts between study and work (OR: 0.542, [95%CI: 0.371~0.791]), the attention of leaders (OR: 0.403, [95%CI: 0.252~0.645]), and the subsidies of teachers (OR: 0.527, [95%CI: 0.347~0.805]). Compared with internal medicine, clinical teachers from surgery (OR: 2.396, [95%CI: 1.365–4.206]) and other departments (OR: 2.409, [95%CI: 1.406–4.129]) were more satisfied when they considered that residents have high motivation to attend training. In addition, compared with the attending physicians, the deputy chief physicians (OR: 0.493, [95%CI: 0.310–0.783]) and the chief physicians (OR: 0.683, [95%CI: 0.471–0.991]) disagreed more regarding the residents’ wage being good enough. Conclusion: Clinical teachers widely recognize the SRTP. However, teachers’ satisfaction varied due to different genders, working departments, and professional titles. The study also discussed possible reasons and strategy implications behind these findings, which combined unique Chinese society characteristics. Further, we believe the analysis and interpretations remind us of the applications of residency training methods from other Western countries, which should also consider the unique socio-cultural challenges.