attitude of clinical faculty members in shiraz medical university towards private practice physicians' participation in ambulatory care education

background: improvement of medical education is necessary for meeting health care demands. participation of private practice physicians in ambulatory care training is an effective method for enhancing medical students' skills. purpose: this study was undertaken to determine clinical professors' views about participation of physicians with private office in ambulatory care training. methods: participants composed of 162 shiraz medical university faculty members form 12 disciplines. a questionnaire requesting faculty members' views on different aspects of ambulatory care teaching and interaction of community-based organizations was distributed. results: of 120 (74.1%) respondents, 64 (54.2%) believed that clinical settings of medical university are appropriate for a mbulatory care training. private practice physicians believed more than a cademic physicians without private office that private offices have wider range of patients, more common cases, and better follow up chance; and is also a better setting for learning ambulatory care compared with medical university clinical centers. overall, 32 (29.1 %) respondents found the participation of physicians with private practice on medical education positive. conclusion: it is possible that interaction of physicians in private offices with ambulatory care training be an enhancement of medical education but our study suggests cautions and further evaluation.