Needs assessment of entrepreneurship educational course and students and graduate's employment in universities of medical sciences in the south of Iran

The objective of this study was to survey needs assessment for the required and proposed educational courses in order to promote entrepreneurship and job finding among the students and graduates in universities of South Iran.

The present descriptive–analytic research was conducted using a questionnaire containing 19 subjective questions for needs assessment. The sample size included 300 students and 200 graduates (and employed GPs) of Shiraz, Bushehr, Yasooj and Bandarabbas universities of medical sciences selected randomly. Questionnaires were filled by the participants.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between theoretical education and job requirements. Also, there was a significant difference between students and the employed graduates regarding learning a foreign language. The students group was more familiar with the global systems of the medical courses than the graduates; this could be attributed to the change in educational structure as well as technological revolution. Regarding innovation and creativity, the difference was significant between the two groups. Group A does more teamwork than group B; as to the introduction of the job, the difference was significant between the two groups

The findings indicated that negligence and lack of needs assessment have kept the students away from practical work and encounter with the related problems. The students generally believe that employment could be gained through nepotism in the first place and based on practical and scientific capabilities in the second place. This problem could be solved through educational courses for teaching computer and language skills, management, etc. Moreover, by establishing an organization for monitoring the employment process, disappointment among the students and academic staff especially physicians could be eliminated.