Journal of Medical Education Development
Volume:15 Issue: 46, Summer 2022

The professional identity of nursing students was defined as the primary trend in becoming a profession. The present study aimed to explore the factors affecting students' professional identity as nurses.

This Study is a qualitative content analysis from May 2019 to October 2020. The participants were contributed through purposefully sampling. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The duration of each interview was between 30 and 60 minutes. Interviews continued until data saturation. Data analysis was performed simultaneously with Graneheim and Lundman approach.

123 open codes with five subcategories and two categories were extracted. In the present study, "belongingness" was explained as the central theme. Two categories, "positive role model in the education process" and "The perception of the society towards the nursing profession," were explored.

The present results showed that the identification of nursing students is influenced by belonging influenced by the nursing community and the general community. In addition, the community’s appreciation of the nursing profession and the approval and respect for the nursing profession among the community members have been considered crucial factors for nursing students to become good nurses. Due to the importance of growing a belonging and better understanding of professional identity by nursing students in the educational period, the development of teachers’ abilities as a model and creating a platform for recognizing the professional identity of nursing among community and medical science students is recommended.

Meeting the health needs of the community is the main mission of the field of medical education. Accordingly, the program of transformation and innovation in medical education has been developed as a strategic policy in the field of education in the form of 11 operational packages. Therefore, this aimed at policy analysis of the education transformation plan in the Iranian health system.

This directed qualitative study was conducted using the Walt and Gilson model. Data were collected using three stages: literature review, analysis of relevant policy documents, and semi-structured interviews. All sources and texts of the interviews were coded and analyzed in the form of categories related to the dimensions of the policy model framework.

A total of 15 articles and 73 documents met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis in the present study. According to the analysis, 248 concepts were extracted, which resulted in 73 subclasses, 11 main subclasses, and 3 main classes after merging common concepts. The main categories included requirements of implementation, legislation, policymaking, and infrastructure management.

The implementation of the transformation and innovation program in the field of health system education requires paying attention to the political, legal, economic, social, and international factors as well as the existing problems. In addition, the proper implementation of this program requires the participation of internal and external stakeholders in the stages of policy-making, implementation, and evaluation.

Graduate students, in addition to engaging with complex academic content in the university environment, mainly acquire new roles in society. Coordination between learning and performing social tasks requires high time management skills. This study was performed to determine the factors affecting the time management of Iranian graduate medical sciences students during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This web-based cross-sectional study was conducted across Iranian medical sciences universities in 2019, using web sampling through the official social networks of medical sciences universities in Iran. The data were collected using an online version of time management questionnaire by Trueman and Hartley (1996). Data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 22) through descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression analysis.

In total, 362 graduate students in different majors of medical sciences participated in this study. The mean (SD) score of the total time management of students was obtained at 47.27(5.47). According to the results of multiple linear regression analysis, among 13 individual and academic variables of students, educational level (P=0.019, β=-0.126) and duration of study per day (P=0.002, β=0.172) were effective in predicting time management skills.

The time management skill of Iranian medical sciences students is relatively desirable. However, masters' students had better time management, compared to Ph.D. and residency students. Furthermore, the duration of study per day is a stronger factor in predicting the time management of graduate students.

Soon after the outbreak of COVID-19, Universities of medical sciences was forced to shift from face-to-face education toward online educational activities according to WHO recommendation to observe physical distancing. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the quality of virtual education classes from the perspective of students and professors at Ilam University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in five faculties of Ilam University of Medical Sciences in 2020. Thirty professors and 370 students participated in the study by convenience sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire based on the viewpoint of university professors and students about the quality of virtual classes. The questionnaire included 30 questions in four sections: the ability to use the educational system, feelings and attitudes towards the virtual class, learning and educational environment, interactive learning and perceived effectiveness, plus five questions addressing satisfaction with the training course. The data were analyzed using independent t-test at a significance level of P <0.05 by SPSS 22 software.

The mean and standard deviation (SD) score of the quality of virtual education classes from the perspective of professors and students was 48.6(16.2) and 47.9(25.9), respectively, which is considered moderate. There was a significant difference between professors' and students’ viewpoints about satisfaction with virtual education classes (P= 0.004), indicating that the professors were more contented than students.

Generally, professors and students rated the overall quality of virtual classes as moderate, and they were also relatively satisfied with the course.

Interpersonal communication has been constantly been taken into consideration in recent years and has been considered an important requirement for successful job performance in organizations. This study aimed to explain the experiences and views of managers and staff of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran, on interpersonal communication skills.

The present qualitative study was conducted with a conventional content analysis approach. The participants (n=10) were selected from the educational managers and staff of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences using the purposive sampling method and taking into account the maximum diversity in demographic characteristics, such as age, gender, education level, and job position. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews until reaching saturation and analyzed simultaneously. Qualitative data analysis was performed manually.

Based on the participants' experiences, 160 initial codes were extracted, which were eventually classified into two main categories, including facilitators and inhibitors, of which only the facilitators were examined in this study. The main category of facilitators was summarized in 19 subcategories and 6 categories, including the facilitator's personal and professional characteristics, quality of work life, organizational structures, organizational civic behaviors, communication skills and channels, and attention to ethical and ideological principles.

The results of the study showed that from the point of view of managers and employees of medical education, paying attention to the facilitators of interpersonal communication was one of the most important factors in interpersonal communication, and addressing them would strengthen effective interpersonal communication, lead to better interactions between employees, increase satisfaction, and improve the quality of work.

Faculty development programs by improving clinical faculty members' educational skills affect society's health. Despite all the efforts for the educational development of clinical faculty, these programs do not always have adequate efficiency because of some challenges. This study aimed to design, implement and evaluate a long-term educational faculty development program for clinical faculty members.

This triangulation study was conducted from September 2021 to February 2022. The program designed by adopting Harden’s 10 Questions of educational program development framework approach. Based on Sociocultural theory, a longitudinal, informal program performed in a group setting for eighty clinical faculty members. For program evaluation, a questionnaire based on the CIPP evaluation model was developed and tested psychometrically.

The results indicated the overall satisfaction with faculty development program was high. Participants reported awareness of strengths and weaknesses in education, more self-confidence, higher motivation in teaching, acquiring teaching skills in clinical settings, and providing effective feedback as the program's achievements.

The combination of informal, longitudinal, and group-based approach increased the program's efficiency. This approach had short-term results such as enhancement of participants’ educational skills, improvement in the process of clinical education, and training clinical educators for future faculty development programs. hopefully, it will increase organizational capacities in the long time.

Institutional accreditation is a type of quality assurance in medical education to achieve quality standards in higher education institutions. The present study aimed at internal evaluation of the faculties affiliated to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences based on the institutional accreditation standards.

This study was conducted based on a descriptive cross-sectional design. The research samples included all the faculties affiliated to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. This study was performed based on the national institutional accreditation standards (IA), including 66 standards and 351 measures in eight evaluation domains, approved by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. In order to conduct an internal evaluation based on institutional accreditation standards, the experts in the fields of institutional accreditation were initially provided with the necessary training. Upon the collection of documents, the data was evaluated by the research group based on the accreditation standards. In the next step, to confirm the documents and complete the internal evaluation, a field visit was conducted to the educational and research facilities of the faculties based on the accreditation standards. Finally, the faculty officials and senior managers of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences were provided with feedback on the results of the internal evaluation in the two sections of mandatory and developmental standards.

As evidenced by the obtained results, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences showed significant improvement in the achievement of accreditation standards in field evaluations. The highest and lowest percentages of compliance with the standards were observed in the faculties of nursing-midwifery and health-paramedicine, respectively.

In order to reach an ideal level in all necessary standards and improve the quality of medical education, in addition to the provision of necessary infrastructure, managers, professors, and experts in the field of education need to be thoroughly familiar with institutional accreditation standards.

Evidence-based medicine (EBM) integrates the best available evidence from authentic studies with clinical expertise and patients' values, helping pharmacists to have access to the best available evidence to respond to clinical questions. The present study aimed to assess the level of awareness and attitude of pharmacists as the initial step to improve these practices.

The instrument used in this cross-sectional study was a questionnaire of awareness and attitudes towards EBM and its related terms (Abofarha et al., 2014). After localization, the questionnaire was provided to the pharmacists working in the pharmacies of Zanjan province and pharmacy students in the last two years of university, and the results were assessed.

The participation rate was 75%, and 66.8% of subjects were familiar with the concept of EBM. The participants who did not have sufficient knowledge had higher mean age scores in comparison with those who did not (P=0.001). Moreover, 74.1% of students and 60% of graduates in this study showed sufficient knowledge and the difference between the two groups was significant (P= 0.023). In addition, 84.1% of the participants had a positive attitude towards EBM. Students and graduates did not significantly differ in terms of attitude.

As evidenced by the results of this study, pharmacists and pharmacy students in Zanjan province had a good knowledge of EBM terms. Moreover, it was found that participants with more work experience were less knowledgeable in this regard. The majority of them had positive attitudes towards EBM, and it is suggested to include EBM in the pharmacy curriculum to increase students' knowledge in this regard.

The assessment of the interest of medical students in continuing their studies in specialized fields and the factors affecting it can play a strategic role in macro educational planning. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the level of academic interest and the factors affecting the choice of specialty in medical students of Babol University of Medical Sciences.

In this applied cross-sectional study, the study population included incoming medical students from 2009 to 2017 in clinical preparation, stager, and internship. The participants were selected by the convening sampling, and the research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were collected and entered into SPSS software (version 22) and analyzed by related tests at a significance level of p-value ≤ 0.05.

The mean age of students was 23.02±1.65 years, and124 (61/4%) students were female. Moreover, 96.6% of students wanted to continue their studies in residency. Social status in 142 (70.3%) students and lack of free time in 97 (48%) students, respectively, were the most important positive and negative influential factors in the selection of medicine as the field of study. Three fields of cardiology  (n=9; 145.1%), radiology 84 (n=84; 41.6%) and ophthalmology  (n=82; 40.6%) were the first three priorities. No statistically significant difference was observed in gender in any of the specialties, except urology (P=0.008).

Interest, social status, income, years of study, and hospital attendance status were the factors affecting the choice of residency among medical students.