Assessment of the 4th Medical Student's Scientific Olympiad in Iran: Theory to action and viewpoints of the participants

Scientific Olympiads aim to evaluate the level of creativity, problem-solving skills, ability to reasoning, decision- making and team working skills among the participants. Talented students can be recognized by Olympiads to provide them more focused mentorship and training. This study aims to evaluate the quality and content of the 4th Medical Student' Scientific Olympiad (Med Olympiad) in Iran. This cross -sectional study was conducted in 2012-2013 on the participants of the 4th Med Olympiad of Iran. The research sample was selected by census. Data collection was performed by a researcher-made questionnaire validated by the investigators. Among the 320 participants from four groups, 61 students (27%) reported the coaching activities of their university high and very high, 76 students (34%) moderate and 88 students (39%) low and very low. The quality of Med Olympiad competition reported 3.1/5±1 and the achievmnet of goals was reported 3.1±1. There was a significant correlation between the level of preparedness in medical universities and ranking of the university (P=0.001). There was no significant correlation between age, sex, academic grade, education, the domain in which the students participated, preparedness level, quality of the competition and access to Med Olympiad goals (P>0.05). Preparation of universities, quality of Med Olympiad and achieving the goals were area for improvements for the next Med Olympiad.