Comparison of Operating Room Master of Science in Iran and Australia: A Descriptive-Comparative Study

The curriculum of Operating Room Master of Science in Iran is novel, so it requires constant evaluation as well as quality assurance and promotion. The present study aimed to comparing the curricula of Master of Science in Operating Room in Iran and Master of Perioperative Nursing in selected Australian universities.

Necessary data was collected through an extensive search in Websites of universities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Latrobe and correspondence with them, English and Persian databases between 2000 -2020. The four-step model of George Beredy was used to assessment the curriculum.

The most important characteristics of the Australian postgraduate Curricula were lack of entrance exams, full-time and part-time education, at least two years of nursing work experience in operating rooms as a licensed practical nurse. The number of courses was more with flexibility in choosing courses. While in Iran Taking the Iranian University Entrance Exam, non-consideration of operating room work experience, and not entering the orientation or specialization in the graduate encyclopedia, Full-time education were features of the senior operating room curriculum.

Comparing Iranian and Australian educational systems revealed a significant difference in programs and Curricula offered in both countries. In order to eliminate the shortcomings and promote the field in Iran, it is recommended to the planning officials, to pay attention to the clinical work experience, to use the capacity of the selective-specialized unit and the dissertation in order to become specialized, different research methods and to offer some special courses in virtual form.