The Viewpoints of Medical Graduates toward Their Achievement to Expected Competencies, Kerman, 2013

Background: Medical graduates should acquire the necessary skills to provide desirable health services. So it is necessary for medical schools to evaluate their students according expected competencies. The aim of present study was to investigate the viewpoints of medical graduates toward their achievement to these expected capabilities. Methods: This research was a cross sectional study carried out in the Kerman medical school, all medical students who had graduated in 2010 and 2011 selected. We analyzed self assessment of graduates' competencies. The instrument used was a questionnaire including demographic data and 77 competencies in 4 domains: clinical and communication skills, practical procedures, medical ethics and legal responsibility and health informatics. The level of each competency was assessed on a five-point scale. The score of each participant was calculated over ally and for each domain. The score range was from 0 to 100. Data was analyzed by SPSS version 19.  Results: Fifty-seven graduates participated in our study. The overall mean and standard deviation of participants' competency score was 51.25 ± 12.19. There was no difference between males and females. Accurate patient evaluation, performing suture, knowledge about their responsibilities, issuance of medical certificate, familiarity with website had highest scores. Radiography interpreting, measuring Hct, expectations of a physician in Islam and jurisprudence, regulation of sex change, biostatistics had lowest scores. Conclusions: Our study showed that according to graduates self -assessment, they were good in some competencies such as accurate patient evaluation but had undesirable confidence for some important capabilities like radiography request and interpreting. If all of these competencies are essential for graduates, medical schools should make sure that students have acquired all skills before graduation.