Introduction: Considering the importance of professional ethics of teaching in promoting education, the present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the professional ethics of professors from the perspective of basic medical students at Babol University of Medical Science.
Methods: This research was a kind of descriptive-cross-sectional survey. The study included all basic medical students randomly selected using a Morgan table of 162 people. The data collection tool in this study was the Teacher's Professional Ethics Questionnaire with six components and 48 items. The scoring scale of the items was based on the Likert five-choice scale from one to five. In addition, data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (frequency, mean, and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (single group t-test and independent t-test) as well by using SPSS 21 statistical software.
Findings: The total score of teachers' professional ethics from the students' point of view was (4.437±0.509), while a significant difference between the views of female students (4.42±0.52) and male students (4.45±0.49) was not observed (p = 0.195). Among the components, the components of personality traits (4.476) and content aristocracy (4.479) had the highest mean, although the components of learner cognition (4.258) had the lowest mean.
Conclusion: All components of professors' teaching were in good condition from the perspective of medical students. Even though it was still a bit far from the completely standard situation (score 5), by presenting the results of this study to the managers and officials in the field of university education, it may be possible to improve the education quality and teaching of university teachers.
 
Evaluation of Professional Ethics of Professor's Teaching from Perspective of Basic Medical Students at Babol University of Medical Sciences
Introduction: Compliance with professional ethics in all organizational matters is necessary for effectiveness. Since education is a profession and is the foundation of sustainable human development, hence compliance with professional ethics in education will lead to realizing educational goals. The main mission of the university is the education and training of specialized human resources based on the needs of society. In addition to teaching, university professors are considered professional and human models for students. Professional ethics in teaching is a set of ethical principles that define the professional responsibilities of university professors. University professors are always considered role models for students in various aspects such as scientific issues and education, respect, interaction and mutual communication, etiquette, motivation, management and professional responsibilities, etc. moreover, the professional ethics of teaching can be discussed from two aspects: the ethical standards that must be observed in education and are actually related to the teaching-learning process, and secondly, the principles of personal ethics that the teacher must adhere to at any time and place. Accordingly, it is necessary to evaluate the current situation of various components of the professional ethics of professor teaching and determine its distance from educational standards in any university. Because the examination of professional ethics and its criteria from the perspective of students, as one of the important elements in the field of education, can help policymakers, administrators, and university planners in making appropriate decisions to reduce the gap between the current and the desired situation help in the development and improvement of these educational standards. Considering the importance of professional ethics of teaching in improving education, the present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the professional ethics of teaching by professors from the point of view of students of basic medical sciences at Babol University of Medical Sciences.
Materials and methods: The present study was a descriptive cross-sectional one. The study population included all the students of the basic science course of the professional medical doctorate course at Babol University of Medical Sciences. Then, a statistical sample of 162 people was randomly selected using Morgan's table. The criteria for entering the study, being engaged in studying, and demanding to participate in the study, while the criteria for exiting the study were not completing more than 30% of the questionnaire questions. The instrument of data collection was the questionnaire "Professional ethics of teacher’ teaching" which was designed by Sobhani-nejad et al. The teacher's professional ethics questionnaire had six components and 48 items. The components of teacher teaching included personality traits (21 items), mastery of content (6 items), mastery of teaching methods (4 items), recognition of different aspects of the learner (6 items), ideal evaluation (5 items), and compliance with educational rules, and regulations (6 items). In addition, the questionnaire was set based on a five-point Likert scale from one (very little) to five (very much). Regarding the grading of the answers, the average score was 1 to 2.33 in the weak or unfavorable level, 2.34 to 3.67 in the medium or relatively favorable level, and 3.68 to 5 in the strong situation or desirable and obtaining the maximum score which was five considered as an ideal score. After collecting the information from the questionnaires, the data was entered into the SPSS software (version 21), and to analyze the data, descriptive statistics (prevalence, mean, and standard deviation) and analytical statistics (group t-test to compare the mean of the component with the average score of the questionnaire which was three, and finally independent t-test to compare the results of male and female students) was used.
Findings and discussion. The response rate to the questionnaire was about 100%, regarding to gender, 74 (45.7%) were female and 88 (54.3%) were male. The mean and standard deviation of the total score of professional ethics of professors' teaching from the students' point of view were 4.437 and 0.509, respectively. It indicated that all components were at a firm and desirable level. Among the components, the components of personality traits (4.476) and mastery of content (4.479) had the highest average; despite the components of learner knowledge (4.258) had the lowest average. No significant difference was observed between male and female students (P=0.195). In other word, both sexes achieved the lowest learner's knowledge component (female students 4.2 ± 0.82 and male students 4.3 ± 0.70. However, female students scored the highest personality traits (4.46±0.48) and male students scored the highest for the ideal evaluation component (4.52±0.57).
To conclude, the general state of professional ethics in the teaching of professors was favorable from the point of view of medical students in the basic sciences at Babol University of Medical Sciences. In addition, each of the components of professional ethics in the teacher's teaching was also in favorable condition from the point of view of the medical students of the basic sciences at Babol University of Medical Sciences. They stated that all aspects and ethical characteristics of the teaching were good, and they complied with the requirements; although they seem still far from ideal conditions. In the comparison between male and female students, no significant difference was observed in terms of two points of view in the examination of each component of teaching ethics, as well as the average of the total points obtained. Perhaps it can be said that the professors treat both sexes equally and the same, there was no evidence of bias of paying attention to each gender; maybe because the moral character was institutionalized within the professors and crystallized in their behavior.
Conclusion: From the point of view of basic science medical students, all the teaching components of the professors were in good condition, but it was still far from the ideal condition. By presenting the results of the present study to the managers and officials of the university educational field, it would be helpful to improve further the quality of education and teaching of the university lecturers.