Developing Titles and Contents of Continuing Education Programs in Iran: Barriers and Challenges

As an inevitable necessity, continuing education has caught the attention of health policymakers worldwide. Policy making, setting standards, and accreditation of continuing medical education have been endorsed as a law in Iran. The current study aimed to identify how the titles and contents of continuing education conferences are prepared. It also tried to highlight the existing challenges in this field. The qualitative study was performed through in-depth interviews with a wide range of educators, lecturers, and experts of continuing education. Overall, 6 educators, 20 lecturers, and 3 experts of continuing education unit of the Iranian Ministry of Health participated in the study. All educators and lecturers were faculty members. The findings were examined using content analysis. On the whole, the following four domains were extracted: program contents, accreditation, holding programs, and evaluation domains. Not reviewing the titles of programs and employing traditional education techniques were the most important challenges of the process. Therefore, we suggest the establishment of "continuing education needs assessment committees" in universities. Licenses should be granted on the basis of accreditation and needs assessment results. The program titles should be reviewed by specialized councils. The mode of presentation should change from lecturing to combined methods of online tutorials, self-learning, panels, workshops, and case reports. "Continuing education evaluation committees" should be established in universities. Finally, lecturers and educators should be allocated points for promotion and program executives should be financially supported.