Participation is a key to Any Change: The Student's Role in Medical Education Reform

The general census is that engagement in educational decision making is the students right. To have an effective reform، the students'' and faculty members’ involvement are necessary. The aim of this study was to determine the students` perspective of their role in medical education reforms. In this qualitative study، semi-structured interviews were performed on 50 students of Golestan University of Medical Sciences، Iran، in 2012. Participants were included in the study by purposeful sampling method and with maximum variation. The data collection stopped when data saturation was achieved. One open-ended question was asked from all of the participants; “what is the student’s role in medical education reform?”. The recoded interviews were transcribed line-by-line and analyzed using content analysis method. Student involvement as a key to any change was the main theme which emerged in the study. Participation in educational decision making، reform-oriented thinking، self-directed and critical attitude، the ability to use applied scientific knowledge، creative thinking، and problem-solving ability were the themes which were obtained. Motivated instructors، dynamic environment، and learning opportunities were also mentioned as crucial elements for the students'' participation in education reform. For any educational reform to be successful، it requires students’ involvement. By listening to students، we can learn about the ways of improving the classroom or university. Abilities such as criticism، self-directing، and problem solving plus having committed professors and dynamic learning climate، together make reform possible.