Operating Room Students, Graduates and Faculty Members’ Experiences of the Curriculum of Operating Room Noncontinuous Undergraduate Program: A Qualitative Study

One of the basic principles of the educational process is the periodic review of the curriculum for each discipline and at each academic level. Because of previous work experience, the operating room non-continuous undergraduates have to retake some courses they have already passed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the operating room students, graduates and faculty members’ experiences of the curriculum of operating room noncontinuous undergraduate program.

This qualitative study was conducted in 2016-17 using the conventional content analysis method. Subjects were selected by means of purposive sampling. Data were collected through 13 semi-structured interviews. Interview transcriptions were analyzed in MaxQDA2 software using the content analysis method.

The data were classified into three main categories namely “disproportionate structure of the curriculum” with the subcategories of inappropriate organization of teaching content, teaching method and ineffective apprenticeship; “deterrents” with the subcategories of employment during education, family management, and difficult commuting; and “motivational factors” with the subcategories of financial growth, job promotion, and social identity.

Results suggest that it is necessary to reform the structure and implementation of the curriculum of operating room noncontinuous undergraduate program so that it will be commensurate with learners’ needs.