Internal Evaluation of Clinical Departments of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences

Background and purpose: Internal evaluation is the systematic process of collecting and analyzing information to determine the benefits and disadvantages of a program and the extent to which its objectives are achieved. The aim of this study was to investigate the status of internal evaluation in clinical departments of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in two consecutive academic years. This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in all clinical departments of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences during 2015-2016 and 2016-2017. Data from eight domains of internal evaluation were collected using a checklist and some researcher-made questionnaires. Then, we studied the status of departments in eight domains of internal evaluation in relation to the standards and the status of all departments in two consecutive academic years. The evaluations for the years were compared and the dynamic trend was assessed. Data analysis was done applying descriptive statistics in SPSS. A good status of clinical departments was seen in most of the domains. Best performances within the two academic years studied were associated with courses, educational curriculum, and graduate affairs (74.53%, 78.66%, and 88.61%, respectively). Total scores for all clinical departments were 64.22% and 70.69% in 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, respectively. Continuous internal evaluation reveals the strengths and weak points of the clinical departments. Therefore, more appropriate planning would be done and the departments could apply for further residency programs.