PERCEPTIONS OF POSTGRADUATE STUDENTS REGARDING INCLUSION OF CLINICAL AUDIT IN TRAINING PROGRAMME

Abstract

Objective: To find out the perceptions of postgraduate students regarding inclusion of clinical audit in the training programme.

Study Design: Mixed method sequential study.

Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital Lahore, from Apr to Nov 2018.

Material and Methods: In the first phase, quantitative research question addressed the perceptions of postgraduate students regarding inclusion of clinical audit in the training programme through a questionnaire. A total of fifty postgraduate students participated in the study. In the second phase, focus group discussions (FGD) were carried out from thirty-five students divided into five equal groups across different disciplines to explore
these perceptions in depth.

Results: The quantitative analysis of results revealed that significantly large percentage of students considered clinical audit, audit project and relevant clinical governance domains to be of high relevance to the postgraduate training programmes. The key themes emerging from clinical audit focus group discussions FGD were better clinical care, patient safety, lack of institutional support, lack of understanding about audit on part of the students and faculty and improper implementation mechanisms.

Conclusion: Clinical audit promotes safe, quality and evidence-based care for the patients and minimizes the cases of clinical negligence in clinical practice. Clinical audit needs to be incorporated as an integral component in  the postgraduate curricula. The medical educators and curriculum committees need to focus on the benefits of clinical audits, clinical governance, effective learning strategies and relevant support system to help students in achieving the desired goals in clinical audit practice and quality assurance measures.