Professional Ethics in Teaching from the Perspectives of Professors and Graduate Students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences: A Comparative Study

Background: Teaching and training require ethical considerations. Objectives: The present study aimed at evaluating teaching ethics from the perspectives of professors and postgraduate students of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences based on a comparative approach. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed on all postgraduate students and their professors in the academic year of 2019-2020. A total of 284 postgraduate students and 42 professors were selected using a stratified random sampling method, according to the size of each stratum. The data collection instrument was the standard teacher s professional ethics scale including six subscales and 48 items, scored based on a five-point Likert scale from 1 to 5. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21 using descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and one-way analysis of variance. Results: The total mean score of professional ethics for professors was 3.67±0.63 and 4.29 ± 0.59 from the students and professors’ perspectives, respectively. There was a significant difference between the students and professors’ perspectives in each of the subscales (P 0.0001). There was a significant difference among schools in the teaching techniques mastery and observation of rules subscales. Conclusion: From the perspective of students, the status of teaching ethics is still far from the standard, and it needs more educational plans to improve.