Explaining the Expected Skills in the Workplace from the Graduates of the Master's Degree in Health Education and Health Promotion in Order to Increase the Level of Social Accountability

Accountability and social commitment is one of the philosophical approaches of universities, which focuses more on the responsibility of universities in serving the society. The purpose of this research is to identify the skills expected by the society from the graduates of the master's degree in health education and health promotion in order to increase the level of social accountability. 

This qualitative study was conducted with the quantitative content analysis method at Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences. The statistical population of this research was all the students and graduates of the master's degree in health and the staff in charge of the health education unit in the sub-category of health department, who were invited to the study by available sampling method. The data collection method was a structured interview.

This research was conducted with the participation of 19 health education graduates and experts with an average age of 39 years and an average work experience of 14 years. 105 needs and skills of a health education and health promotion expert in the form of four main categories including; The required skills of a health education and health promotion expert in the workplace, useful skills for the workplace that are taught in the university, skills expected in the workplace and expectations from the educational system to increase responsiveness to the needs of society were presented.

There is a gap between the skills taught at the university level and the job needs of graduates of this field, and most of this difference is estimated for practical skills. Also, in order to improve responsiveness to the needs of employees and ultimately the needs of the society, the scientific and practical support of health education experts is needed for the workers in the work environment, which requires close interaction of the health department with the health faculty.