Internal evaluation of residency training course in internal medicine of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2022

Evaluating the quality of educational services in universities is a necessity to move towards excellence. Internal evaluation as the first step of the accreditation process leads to the identification of strengths and weaknesses and correction of processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the internal residency training course of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, determine the strengths and weaknesses of this department and present the results to the relevant authorities to eliminate the shortcomings.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in the internal department of Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2022. The statistical population included all faculty members and residents of the internal department of Razi Educational and Medical Center of Guilan University of Medical Sciences (N=76). In this study, the accreditation model based on the standards of the World Federation of Medical Education (WFME) has been used for internal evaluation. Data collection tools were identified for each standard including questionnaire, observation and review of available documents. The designed questionnaires were administered through EPOLL platform after confirming the validity and reliability. Necessary information was also collected from observational data. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics using SPSS.

The findings of the present study showed that in the domain of mission and goals, residency training program of the internal department of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, was at 67% of the major compliance and 33% of full compliance. In the domain of managerial structure 100% full compliance, in the domain of educational process 55% of full compliance, and 45% of major compliance, in the domain of rules and regulations of the residency course 69% of full compliance and 31% of major compliance, in the domain of evaluation 89% full compliance and 11% of major compliance and in the domain of educational conditions and resources, 62% of full compliance and 38% of major compliance were observed. Overall, out of 52 standards reviewed in the process of internal evaluation of the internal medicine department, 67% were at full compliance and 33% were at major compliance.

Based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that according to the mission and goals of the internal department, although with all its might has been relatively successful in training internal residents, but also has some shortcomings that by planning and eliminating of the identified deficiencies in this research we can make a qualitative leap in the training of internal residents.