ABSTRACT
The present study aimed to evaluate the balance between training and demand for radiologists in the Iranian health care system between 2008 and 2027. A total number of 250 clusters were randomly selected from urban and rural areas of Iran, of which 168 were selected from urban areas and 82 were selected from rural areas. In order to collect basic medical data and to determine the number of radiology visits in the last two weeks, questionnaires were prepared and sent out to the subjects' houses. Information on the number of radiologists as well as statistics on the Iran's population were provided by the Medical Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran [IRI] and the Statistics Center of IRI, respectively. Radiologists were visited 245 times during a two-week time period, which resulted in an average referral to radiologists of 0.125 for each individual. Our results indicated a slight shortage of radiologists in 2008, which is expected to disappear till 2023. Afterwards, the training of radiologists is expected to slightly surpass the demands. Results from the present study suggested that an overall balance between training and demand for radiologists in Iran is likely to happen in near future
ABSTRACT
Unemployment which had been a problem of less educated and unskilled people has become a problem in most of the countries for even the educated and the skilled persons. Unemployment among physicians in Iran has been the subject of discussion during the past so many years, and its severity, causes and ways of combating it has been a focus of discussions in different circles. It is a mail survey conducted on random sample, sized 5482 physicians, from registered physician roster at the Medical Association of Islamic Republic of Iran. The questionnaire included items on employment and unemployment quality and some related factors. The final analysis is based on the 2789 returned questionnaires. Total unemployment has a point prevalence of 9.4% among Iranian physicians [95% CI: 8.3% - 10.5%]. When summed with physicians with qualitative unemployment, this figure reaches 13.7% [95% CI: 12.4% - 14.9%]. Considering quantitative unemployment, the total ratio reaches 25.5%. Half of the unemployed physicians have seeked jobs for more than a year, and they mostly attribute their failure to low income of medical jobs and limited positions for physicians in the governmental sector. Unemployment, in different forms from total to qualitative and quantitative forms affects from one-tenth to one fourth of Iranian physicians. This problem is not limited to Iran, but has been seen in many other countries, especially those that had increased the strength of their medical students in the past. The solution of this problem needs its accurate identification and factors affecting it or related to it. Solving this problem needs finding its accurate fissure and the related factors
ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular disorders are responsible of nearly fifty percent of deaths in industrial and developing countries. However numerous studies have revealed considerable differences in distribution of cardiovascular risk factors at the national, regional and ethnic levels. There is a necessity to elucidate the status of all recognized risk factors in any population to attribute these differences in the incidence of cardiovascular events to the changes in some risk factors or natural history of the disease in that society. The study of cardiovascular risk factors in the 17th zone of Tehran is performed according to the model of MONICA project of WHO. In this project the trend of cardiovascular events and their association with changes in risk factors is monitored in more than twenty countries and 35 centers. In this article we describe some aspects of the statistical design and sampling procedure of our aformentioned study such as sampling framework, sampling methods and its rationale, best size of clusters, sample size and sample selection in each cluster
ABSTRACT
Background: given the limited resources for medical education it seems reasonable to specify the exact educational needs and make sure that these needs are met. In this respect determining priorities and appropriate educational strategies and teaching methods allows for optimum use of limited available resources
Purpose: to determine the perceived educational priorities and effective educational methods for five groups of medical care providers with respect to their views
Method: a cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the perceived knowledge, and preferences of the participants. Five valid and reliable questionnaires were developed, verified by 4 CME experts, filled out during the planned programs and on receiving their temporary of final certificates by each participant in the relevant subgroup. SPSS 9.0 was used for the analysis of collected data
Results: of the 3300 medical care providers who received the questionnaires, 2687 filled them out. The overall response rate was 81%. Educational needs based on the priorities in the questionnaires included required educational methods and techniques for the five subgroups and specific priorities for each subgroup. Among the most requested methods were: lectures accompanied by video [54.1%], lectures followed by questions and answers [49.3%], case presentations [37.5%], educational workshops [37.4%], education through the internet [26.4%], conventional lectures [23.9%], morning reports [16.4%], and education in the field [15.1%]
Conclusion: demographic characteristics were relevant to determine educational priorities and learning methods. For the most-preferred learning needs, the five subgroups suggested different topics. The observation suggests that the participants assess their learning needs closely related to their perceived job requirements. However, these perceived needs may not be well related to the participants, actual level of knowledge or skill