Abstract
BACKGROUND: Besides providing health services to the public, medical universities also shoulder the important task of educating and training skilled and specialized human resources required by different sectors of society. This necessitates that medical education follow a model that can include the role of professional competence and education in promoting health, so that students from different medical science groups can deal with societal issues and accept their real responsibility for improving the health of their community. One of these ways is to train undergraduate students in anesthesiology through an internship. The aim of this study is to explain the strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities of this educational plan. METHODS: In this qualitative content analysis conducted based on SWOT theory, six faculty instructors, anesthesiologists, non-faculty instructors, operating room head nurses, and undergraduate students in the field of anesthesiology were selected based on the entry criteria. Then, questions were asked from them based on the aforementioned theory, and after extracting the codes, classification was performed according to the Graneheim & Lundman approach. RESULTS: From the analysis of the findings, four subcategories of strengths, weaknesses, challenges, and opportunities were obtained, which were in the management and executive domains. The most repeated code in its strengths was improving the student’s relationship with the surgical team and reducing their anxiety. The most repeated code in its weaknesses was using the student as an instrument and avoiding scientific work. CONCLUSIONS: The results obtained indicate that in addition to its significant strengths, this plan has also weaknesses that can be improved by eliminating them and carrying out corrective processes. Meanwhile, the professional qualifications and abilities of students in the clinical field can be improved, and the shortage of human resources in the clinical field can be reduced. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: Not applicable. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-07932-y.