Evaluation of academic ability of faculty applicants in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences

Selection and employment of Ph.D. service personnel and clinical specialists is one of the basic issues in providing the manpower required for universities. This study endeavored to investigate the academic competence of applicants for contract faculty recruitment calls and legal obligations for Ph.D.in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences from the academic years 2016 to 2020.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed by collecting information from the uploaded files and documents of 222 faculty applicants and the legal obligations of the PhD from among 170 applicants during the academic years 2016 to 2020. The scores of the admitted students were obtained from the analysis of data in the "national form designed to assess the academic competence of the applicants for membership in the departments of the universities and higher education centers. This form was approved by the Ministry of Health, Treatment and Medical education. Data were analyzed using chi-square, independent t-test, and analysis of variance.

The total number of people surveyed was 392 (222 PhD holder applicants for contract faculty and 170 PhD holders’ applicants for legal obligations). In the two groups, the highest scores were related to clinical competence and skill (n=20), teaching ability and published articles. Research findings showed that applicants have obtained the lowest score from options 17 and 19, which were mentioned in the form. Faculty application requirements and PhD legal obligations were not significantly different in language scores (p <0.05) but were significantly different in interview scores and documentation (p<0.05). In the contract faculty recruitment test, the scores of scientometrics, scientific interview, and English language of the participants in test 15 were higher than test 16 (p <0.05). The scientometrics and English language scores of the participants in different periods of summon for legal obligations were significantly different from each other (p <0.05)

The results revealed that the applicants for faculty recruitment in terms of ability to teach, teaching according to educational departments did not act favorably but they paid more attention to publishing articles and obtaining academic certificates. Thus, it is recommended to policy makers and university officials to consider this key point in empowerment planning for academic members employed.