Internal evaluation of public health department of Semnan university of medical sciences

Internal evaluation is a fundamental determinant to quality development in teaching departments and faculties. The purpose of this study was an internal departmental evaluation in the public health department of Semnan university of medical sciences (SUMS). This work was performed (during 2008-2009) in department of public health of SUMS utilizing an accreditation model. The assessment covered 9 areas, namely: educational missions and objectives, management and organization, educational programs, scientific board, students, educational resources, research activities, assessment and evaluation, and graduates. Questionnaires were developed by the scientific members of the department. After collecting the data, results were categorized according to Gourman scoring scale, from unsatisfied class to very strong class, with the range of 1-5 scores. The mean scores in the 9 evaluation areas were obtained and the rankings were as below: Educational programs area was in strong ranking; educational missions and objectives, scientific board, and assessment and evaluation areas were in good ranking; management and organization area was in more than satisfied ranking; students area was in satisfied ranking; educational resources and research activities areas were in borderline ranking; and finally, the department was ranked as unsatisfied in the graduates area. Results showed that by achieved mean of 3.19 in whole of the evaluation areas, the public health department has placed in "more than satisfied" class. Although the overall status is acceptable, there is a need to modify the weak points in the suboptimal areas to improve the educational quality in this department.