Roghayeh Gandomkar,
Volume 15, Issue 1 (3-2022)
Abstract
One of the duties of the government is to train and provide the expert workforce to provide quality health services to society. During the last four decades, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education has prioritized one of the policies to increase the number of medical science students or to improve the quality of education based on the needs of society. Following the approval and initiation of the policy to expand the number of medical sciences students and considering its proponents and opponents, in this article, various aspects of increasing students include the supply of workforce in response to the demands of society and the challenges of ensuring the quality of education has been discussed. Previous studies show this is a multifaceted issue that requires comprehensive mixed-method studies taking into account all the influencing factors such as the high tendency of health workers to immigrate, low retention in less privileged areas, economic problems and other factors. In addition, expanding the numbers requires infrastructure, concise planning to provide high-quality education, and monitoring of the educational system and learners in terms of achieving the desired competencies. In case of not paying attention to ensuring the quality of education in all three dimensions of input, process and output, the increase of numbers will ultimately be counterproductive and will lead to jeopardizing the safety and health of patients.
Zahr Kheiri, Toktam Masoumian Hosseini, Ataollah Pourabbasi,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
Entrepreneurship and the creation of knowledge-based wealth during the past years are considerable issues in scientific and executive institutions, including health institutions. the present study aimed to design course topics to empower medical professionals to have an effective role in the innovation, technology, and knowledge-based ecosystem. This study was conducted using the scoping review method. After determining the research questions, a wide range of studies were investigated systematically and then a snowball search was performed to identify more relevant studies. In the next step, the most relevant data were extracted and then categorized and arranged according to the needs, and finally, the results were summarized as descriptive and inferential statistics tables. The data were coded and analyzed in pairs. Ultimately, the areas and course topics of the entrepreneurship curriculum were extracted and arranged as a suggested list. Then, the expert panel method was used to agree on the course topics and develop educational goals. In this study, 52 essential competencies were identified for medical professionals to have an effective role in the innovation, technology, and knowledge-based ecosystem. These competencies were categorized as 17 course topics and 3 categories including motivation, entrepreneurial knowledge and skills, and business knowledge and skills. Providing the necessary training to develop a comprehensive view of the opportunities and needs in society as well as the knowledge-based business environment is one of the basic concepts that should be included alongside entrepreneurship and business.
Zahra Kheiry, Iraj Nabipour, Neda Mehrdad, Abtin Heidarzadeh, Afshin Ostovar,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
At first, education was the university’s only goal; nevertheless, scientific progress in the twentieth century added research to the universities’ missions. The industry sector’s knowledge-based technologies added a third mission to universities and brought the university into new fields. The fourth-generation universities provided a more comprehensive view by considering the four elements including university, industry, government, and civil society and the next generation (the fifth generation) of universities also considered the environment in addition to these four elements. The present study examined the optimal conditions and requirements for new-generation medical universities (third- to fifth-generation universities). This review study extracted 187 scientific documents from domestic and foreign databases and after screening, 56 documents were selected for the study. Finally, the propositions relevant to the objective of the study were extracted and categorized using content analysis. This study identified 17 optimal conditions for transitioning to new-generation universities. Moreover, 41 requirements were extracted and listed for achieving these conditions, each under its corresponding condition. New-generation universities are known as borderless and accountable universities. Thus, the communication and exchange of knowledge, capital, and value with institutions outside the university at the local, national, and international levels as well as accountability to the needs created at these levels are the main principles of new-generation universities. Given the unique structure of the Iranian health system and the infrastructure for communicating with society, by fulfilling other requirements, this structure can facilitate the transition to new-generation medical universities.
Hossein Riazi, Somayyeh Abedian, Hamid Moghaddasi,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
In summary, this project was carried out in the following steps: reviewing the literature, determining the ethical and legal aspects of the implementation of the electronic health records, reviewing the existing laws and regulations in Iran, identifying the shortcomings and localizing the ethical and legal aspects of implementing electronic health records in Iran, and providing operational suggestions. By reviewing the literature, a list of ethical aspects of electronic health records was extracted and analyzed. Moreover, through reviewing the laws and regulations, it was shown that in the last decade, numerous and diverse laws have been passed in the field of electronic health, especially regarding electronic health records, and there is no serious legal gap in this field in the country. However, certain serious problems were observed including non-implementation or incomplete implementation of some existing laws and regulations, lack of sufficient technical and executive regulations and determining the examples of deviation from the goals of the laws and regulations or their correct implementation, and lack of implementation guarantee for some laws and regulations. Based on the studied documents, the current state of electronic health records in Iran was investigated from legal and ethical aspects, and operational suggestions were presented for its reformation and promotion.
Mahboubeh Shali, Samira Mohammadi, Hasan Shahbazi, Nooshin Kohan, Bagher Larijani, Shohreh Naderi Magham,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
To enhance the level of health literacy among the public, it is essential to take steps towards empowering people to recognize and control the influential factors on health. University professors, as health knowledge promoters, are recognized as educators of health skills and advocates for healthy lifestyles and behaviors. This study aimed to elucidate the role of medical professors in promoting the health literacy of the public. The present study was conducted using conventional content analysis. The participants were selected using purposive sampling with maximum variation. A total of 20 professors from medical universities, the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, and the Ministry of Health were purposively selected until information saturation. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed simultaneously with data collection. Twenty participants (9 females and 11 males) with an average age of 50.3 and an average work experience of 23.45 years took part in the study. After data analysis, 947 initial codes were extracted, and subsequently, categorized into five main categories and fifteen subcategories. Infrastructure development, content production, role model, self-empowerment, and culture building were identified as the main categories. University professors can, through a skillful combination of various elements within the educational system, either propel students and the general public towards lofty goals or deprive them of achieving such objectives. However, factors such as the low number of professors relative to the number of students, the high workload of faculty members, lack of resources, and the overwhelming life responsibilities of faculty members have influenced their performance and role in this regard. To achieve the goal of encouraging professors in enhancing the health literacy of society, it is imperative to bring these constraints to the attention of authorities for resolution.
Masoumeh Jorjani, Mitra Amini, Noushin Kohan, Seyyed Samad Sajjadi, Nikzad Isazadeh, Amin Habibi, Maryam Sohanaki, Pouria Kanani, Reza Mortazavi,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
General courses can effectively empower students and enhance their professional and social personality, and it is essential to continuously evaluate the effectiveness, status, and updating of these courses. Accordingly, the present study aimed to investigate the factors influencing the effectiveness of teaching general courses in the medical curriculum in Iran. The study involved both qualitative and quantitative phases. After conducting semi-structured interviews with experts, medical students, and professors of general courses, and using Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis method, 528 codes were extracted and classified into 4 themes, 11 categories, and 33 subcategories. The main themes included updating the curriculum, focusing on effective and purposeful learning, collaboration and needs assessment of the stakeholders, and linking general courses with practical skills. Based on the results of the qualitative phase, a model for the effective teaching of general courses was developed using Delphi method with subject matter experts, and the validity of the model was confirmed with a two-round validation process. Removing unnecessary courses or those with repetitive content, designing needs-oriented content, involving experts in course revisions, using skill-based education methods, increasing skill-based and practical courses, flexibility in evaluation, and utilizing new educational technologies indicated the highest mean and consensus index. The results showed the necessity of evolving the traditional education system, rethinking, revising the topics and content, focusing on skills based on new needs, promoting evaluation models, and utilizing modern tools and technologies in teaching general courses.
Maryam Aala, Rita Mojtahedzadeh, Aeen Mohammadi, Neda Mehrdad, Moloud Payab, Snor Bayazidi, Mahin Nomali, Mohammad Eghbal Heidari, Alireza Olyaemanesh, Bagher Larijani,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has created opportunities and challenges for education and research as the two main academic activities in medical sciences disciplines, which due to their mutual influence can be used to propose solutions for improving these two areas. The present study was conducted to compare two review articles, each of which dealt with one of these two areas.
This comparative study with a qualitative explanatory design was conducted in three steps. First, two review articles were selected that investigated the opportunities and challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic to propose strategies for the post-corona era. Then, both studies were carefully studied and described. Finally, two researchers separately extracted the similarities and differences mentioned in the two articles and compared them to remove the inconsistencies. A panel of experts confirmed the findings. The opportunities and challenges mentioned in the two articles were extracted and categorized into two areas based on similarities and differences. The similar proposed strategies for the post-corona era were continuing to use virtual space facilities, diversifying the communication methods with students and research participants, and providing and developing suitable electronic infrastructure. Comparing two review articles and determining the similarities and differences between the opportunities and challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the strategies for the post-COVID-19 era related to medical education and clinical research, led to proposing strategies that could promote these two related areas coherently.
Ata Pourabbasi, Zahra Hoseini Tavassol, Bagher Larijani,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
The higher health education system in the Islamic Republic of Iran is an integrated system with multiple stakeholders responsible for training human resources in the health sector at different levels. The Academy of Medical Sciences of the Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the effective institutional factors in this system. This study aimed to explain the position of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the country’s medical sciences education system and outline its major directions in this field. In this study, the knowledge-to-action framework was implemented in four steps. Effective institutional factors in system development were explained, and the role of the various stakeholders of the country’s medical sciences education system was compared with them. Then, the functions of the academy as a main beneficiary based on the degree of connection with the stages of the knowledge-to-action framework were weighted, and finally, these functions were classified into different categories. According to this model, although the academy plays a role in many stages of the development of the country’s medical sciences education system, it primarily functions as a think tank and observatory and to a lesser extent as a knowledge implementation unit. The model presented in this study will help the trustees of the Academy of Medical Sciences to play the largest and most effective role in the development of the country’s medical sciences education system, with optimal resource management and principled development of human capacities, thereby laying the groundwork for the improvement of the integrated health system.
Mohammad Ali Mohagheghi, Seyed Mahmoud Tabatabaee, Narges Tabrizchi, Seyed Jamaleddin Sajjadi Jazi, Bagher Larijani, Seyed Mahdi Seyedi, Nasser Simforoosh, Maryam Khayamzadeh, Nazafarin Ghasemzadeh, Mina Mobasher,
Volume 16, Issue 0 (11-2023)
Abstract
Academic faculty members play the most influential role in realizing the goals and ideals of higher education and community health. In the contemporary period, the cultural and educational role of professors, in the most crucial mission of higher education, has not received the required and necessary attention, and neglecting it has resulted in irreparable damages and adverse consequences. This study attempted to identify the prominent cultural roles of professors in relation to students (with an emphasis on higher health education), while explaining the necessity and importance, and effective solutions were examined and proposed. The present study was conducted using a descriptive-analytical method and a focus group discussion. Selected views of expert professors and data from authentic local scientific articles and related topics in upstream documents were utilized. The findings of the study were classified into five main themes and forty categories. “Cultural goals and ideals”; “general mission of professors for the cultural education of all students” and “special mission of professors of higher health education”; “authentic methods”; and “requirements for cultural education of students” were identified and recommended under the eight selected topics in each axis in order of priority. University Professors play a central role in the cultural and ideological education of students. It is appropriate to develop this responsibility in an objective manner and with suitable scientific methods and observe its excellence and realization in the education system.
Khadije Nasiryani, Najme Zamani, Ahdiye Bahri, Seyedeh Elham Fazljoo,
Volume 16, Issue 1 (3-2023)
Abstract
Considering the importance of learning ethical intelligence in nursing students as the future builders of this field and the valuable role that teaching ethical principles in the narrative way, as well as considering the practicality of virtual education in all disciplines, especially medical sciences, the study aimed at determining the effectiveness of virtual teaching of ethical principles in the narrative way on the moral intelligence of nursing students. the present study was of a semi-experimental type, with 40 nursing students entering the study in the available method. Before the intervention, immediately, after and two months after the intervention, participants completed the Lennick and Kiel's moral intelligence scale. Virtual training was held in 16 training sessions. The data was analyzed with the SPSS version 18 software. The Findings showed the present study involved 40 nursing students with an age range of 18-23 years. Comparison of the average overall score of moral intelligence before intervention (155/45±17/81) immediately after intervention (161/50±17/89) and two months after intervention (162/97±15/41) indicates an increase in this score during the study, which was statistically significant(P=0/02).the present study showed that the average overall score of moral intelligence in students increased immediately after and two months after the intervention, and differed from before the intervention, which is statistically significant. Studies show that optimal moral intelligence can portray a good perspective on people's success and progress. Therefore, it is necessary for university administrators to pay special attention to ethical education with new methods, along with clinical education.
Mozaffar Ghaffari, Ahmad Esmali, Vahid Abdolmanafi, Mahtab Aligolipour,
Volume 16, Issue 1 (3-2023)
Abstract
The prevalence of academic cheating in educational centers and institutions leads to inefficiency and incapacity of graduates. Accordingly, the current study aimed to design a structural model for academic cheating in medical students based on moral metacognition, moral identity, and moral potency. This correlational study was done using structural equation modeling. The statistical population of the study included the students of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2022, and 350 students were selected for the study using simple random sampling method. Data were collected through the Academic Cheating Scale (ACS) (Parks-Leduc, Guay and Mulligan, 2022), Moral Metacognition Scale (McMahon and Good, 2016), Moral Identity Questionnaire (MIQ) (Black & Reynolds, 2016), and Moral Potency Questionnaire (Hannah and Avolio, 2010). Data were analyzed using Bootstrap, Sobel, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient tests via SPSS and AMOS, version 24. The results indicated that the direct effect of moral potency (-0.34), moral identity (-0.25), and moral metacognition (-0.29) was significant on estimating academic cheating in students. The indirect effect of moral identity (-1.97) and moral metacognition (-2.06) with the mediating role of moral potency on students’ academic cheating was significant. Considering the mediating effect of moral potency in the academic cheating model, it seems that moral potency plays a role in increasing the effects of moral metacognition and moral identity on reducing academic cheating.
Maryam Kabirian, Seyedeh Mahboobeh Rezaeean, Rasul Alimi, Nayere Khadem, Robab Latifnejad Roudsari,
Volume 17, Issue 1 (3-2024)
Abstract
The right to safe motherhood encompasses several goals, including reducing maternal mortality, ensuring safe pregnancy and childbirth, and giving birth to healthy children. This study aimed to determine the degree of compliance with the right to safe motherhood and to identify its predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors based on the precede-proceed model from the viewpoint of midwifery students. This cross sectional study was conducted using the census method on 151 midwifery students at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran in 2021 and 2022. Data were collected through a demographic questionnaire, a researcher-made questionnaire to assess compliance with the right to safe motherhood, and a questionnaire to measure its predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling factors on a self-report basis. Statistical methods including Pearson’s and Spearman’s correlation coefficients were utilized to analyze data. The overall mean score of compliance with the right to safe motherhood was 116.6±38.8 with a range of 13-187. Regarding predisposing factors, 58.6% of students had an average to high level of awareness, 80.15% had a positive attitude, and 56.7% highly valued compliance with the right to safe motherhood. Concerning reinforcing factors, the encouragement by clinical mentors (94.8%) as well as legal support (94.6%), and in terms of enabling factors, proficiency and expertise in human resources (71.9%) were recognized as the most influencing factors in promoting compliance with the right to safe motherhood. Moreover, there was a strong positive correlation between enabling factors and compliance with the right to safe motherhood (r=0.950, p=0.488). The results suggest that from the perspective of midwifery students, the level of compliance with the right to safe motherhood is moderate. Given the relationship between enabling factors and compliance with the right to safe motherhood, educational and executive officials in midwifery are recommended to consider the role of these factors to improve the level of compliance with the right to safe motherhood to enhance the quality of midwifery services.
Roya Malekzadeh, Nahid Nickzad Ghadikolaei, Maryam Khazaei-Poul,
Volume 18, Issue 1 (3-2025)
Abstract
Adherence to ethical principles in medical universities, which play a vital role in training the next generation of healthcare professionals, is of significant importance. These principles can serve as a guide to achieving educational goals and improving performance in various academic fields. This study aimed to explain the components of ethics in education at the Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. The study was conducted in 2023 using a qualitative Hybrid Thematic Analysis approach. Participants included 17 educational managers, faculty members, and students from the university. The study was carried out in three phases: a comprehensive literature review, interviews with experts, and the formation of a specialized panel. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews using purposive and snowball sampling, and the process continued until data saturation was achieved. The interviews were transcribed, coded, classified, and analyzed using thematic analysis. The analysis revealed eight main themes, including ethics, justice, responsibility, duty, respect for others, adherence to dress codes, accountability, and spiritual health, along with 55 subthemes. Focusing on ethical components can enhance transparency, create a fair educational environment, strengthen responsibility among faculty members and students, and improve the quality of learning, thereby playing a crucial role in fostering interactions between professors and students. Adhering to ethical components in academic education not only requires understanding ethical concepts but must also align with appropriate implementation mechanisms. Therefore, organizing training workshops to raise awareness among faculty members, students, and staff, and incorporating ethical indicators into recruitment and promotion processes for faculty members are recommended.
Mohsen Shahriari, Maryam Sadat Hashemi, Arash Najimi, Mohammad Zare Reshkoieh,
Volume 18, Issue 1 (3-2025)
Abstract
The fundamental nature of nursing care lies in maintaining patients’ human dignity. Protecting the dignity and high value of humanity is the focus of the nursing profession. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mobile application-based and webinar-based professional ethics education on maintaining patient dignity among nursing students. This was a quasi-experimental study with a two-group pretest-posttest design involving 90 undergraduate nursing students. One group received professional ethics education via webinars, while the other received training through a mobile application-based program. Data were collected using a demographic information form and a questionnaire assessing nursing students’ views on maintaining patient dignity. The findings showed that before training, the mean total scores for human dignity were 99.96 ± 17.43 in the webinar group and 99.59 ± 16.28 in the mobile application group, with no statistically significant difference (p=0.62). After training, the mean human dignity score was significantly higher in the mobile application group (111.15±14.69) than in the webinar group (104.34 ± 15.38), and this difference was statistically significant (p=0.02). The findings indicated that professional ethics education delivered via a mobile application was associated with a greater improvement in nursing students’ views on patient dignity compared to webinar-based education. Mobile-based education offers a self-directed, flexible learning method, enabling students to have continuous access to educational content without time or place restrictions. It is recommended that medical universities in Iran consider developing and integrating educational applications into their curricula.
