[Need assessment for master of science in family nursing curriculum: using Delphi technique]

Our country needs nurses who are expert in family nursing. Accordingly, we need to determine their professional tasks as a basis for future planning regarding establishment of family nursing discipline in Iran. This study was a need assessment for family nursing curriculum using the viewpoints of nursing experts. It was a need assessment study using Delphi technique. Study population included nursing experts such as members of nursing board in Ministry of Health and Medical Education, vice dean for education and head of the departments in nursing schools in Iran who were selected through cluster multistage sampling and 93 experts participated in the first stage of the study. Data was gathered through Delphi technique and using questionnaire in two stages. The questionnaires were send by post. Focus groups viewpoints were used to complete and finalize the tasks. Data was analyzed using SPSS- PC by calculating mean and standard deviation for each statement. In the first stage of Delphi 56 items in care domain, 34 items in consultation domain, 14 items in research domain and 15 items in management domain were determined. In the second phase of Delphi all tasks received a mean score more than4. At last, 15, 11, 5, and 5 tasks were determined and finalized in care, consultation, and research and management domains, respectively. Findings of the study revealed the importance of family nursing role in care domain especially regarding the care of patients suffering from chronic diseases. The results of this study could be used in curriculum development of family nursing discipline

[Educational needs assessment of medical school's clinical faculty members in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences]

Identifying the educational needs is an essential step in planning faculty development programs and plays an important role in promoting the quality of education. The aim of this study was to determine and prioritize the educational needs of clinical faculty members in medical school of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. A questionnaire was developed in this descriptive cross-sectional study using the indices identified in an opinion poll, reviewing the literature and similar foreign and domestic studies, and the instruction including 6 areas of faculty members' job description. The questionnaire was sent to all clinical faculty members of school of medicine [n=275]. The items were scored from 1 to 20 according to the importance of that educational need. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using the mean and standard deviation statistical indices. Different areas of educational needs were respectively prioritized as: personal development, research, administrative and executive activities, education, health services and health promotion, and specialized activities outside the university. The first priority in the area of education was the method for developing continuous learning and self-learning in students; in research, data analysis skills; in personal development, English speaking ability; in administrative and executive activities, time management; in health services and health promotion, the approach for registering patients' information; and in the area of specialized activities outside the university, it was the principles and methods for providing education and counseling for the society by public media. Faculty members are in need of all these 6 major areas specially the area of personal development. The area of education is not fully regarded as expected. It is recommended to determine the weight of all these six areas using a standard method

Developing a holistic accreditation system for medical universities of the Islamic Republic of Iran

This report describes the steps in the development of an accreditation system for medical universities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The national accreditation project, supported by the government, was performed from 2001 to 2005. The project was carried out in 3 main phases, each phase including a number of tasks. After a review of the international literature on accreditation and through national consensus, a set of national institutional accreditation standards was developed, including 95 standards and 504 indicators in 10 areas. By complying with accepted national standards, Iranian medical universities will play an important role in promoting health system performance

efficacy of new method of cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in promoting knowledge and skills of 4[th] year medical students

Educational goals of CPR [CardioPulmonary Resuscitation] training are not fully achieved by traditional methods. The aim of this study was to present a new method for teaching CPR to medical students and also to compare the effect of this new method on knowledge and skills of medical students with current CPR training method. In this quasi-experimental study, Forty 4th year medical students were divided into two experiment and control groups randomly. The control group passed the current method of CPR training and the experiment group participated in a 3 day workshop [first day: theoretical session, second day: group work and practice on model, third day: confrontation to real environment]. The test for assessing knowledge and skills was held before and after the workshop. Then the mean scores were compared using independent t-test and paired t-test Comparing the mean scores of pre-test and post-test showed a significant difference in both knowledge and skills of the experiment group. The mean of the difference between pre-test and post-test scores of the two groups in theoretical and practical exams were also compared which revealed a significant difference. Considering the higher mean of difference between pre and post tests in the experiment group, it seems that educational intervention enhanced the knowledge and proficiency of medical students in performing CPR. Some reasons could be successive theoretical and practical sessions, devoting much more time to practice, confrontation with real environment, and education through group work

Faculty members' skills and educational needs concerning clinical teaching methods in Isfahan University of medical sciences

Identifying faculty members' skills and their educational needs in teaching is necessary for planning faculty development programs. This study was designed to determine faculty members' educational needs and their skills concerning teaching methods during teaching medical clerkship and internship courses in order to coordinate the content of educational workshop according to their needs. In a descriptive study, 108 faculty members teaching clerkship and internship courses in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were selected by random stratified sampling and completed a 16 item questionnaire as self-administered. The questionnaire was about their skills and educational needs in teaching methods of clinical internship and clerkship courses. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using frequency distribution, mean, standard deviation, and linear regression. Faculty members had educational needs in all 16 areas under investigation. They considered their skills at proficiency level in implementation but low level in using evaluation feed-back for improving performance, video recording and making educational films. Their most important priorities for education were information resources and full-text journals, clinical skills evaluation, and using evaluation results for identifying their weaknesses in teaching. The results showed no significant relationship between the subjects' skills and educational needs, and their demographic characteristics. Although faculty members evaluated their skills almost at proficiency level in most areas, they needed more education. It seems that teaching methods and student assessment workshops have to be revised and the content of the workshops should be designed according to the needs of the faculty members. It is also recommended to use different educational methods such as workshops, books and pamphlets, self-learning materials, and educational films to respond to faculty members' educational needs

Determining and prioritizing admission criteria for talented students office in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences using analytical Hierarchy Process Model

Students' scores on university entrance exam [Conquer] or their average scores are not appropriate criteria to recognize them as talented students. There have been limited studies concerning the comparison analysis of factors for selecting medical students as talented. This study was done to determine and prioritize the selection criteria for admitting students to the talented students' office. A group of 5 physicians having experience in medical education was established. Renzulli model was selected as the best descriptive model, then using brain-storming, the features of a talented student were identified. Based on Analytical Hierarchy Process [AHP], the questionnaires were designed and distributed among 21 experts. Using hierarchical analysis formula and by Excel software, the weight of each criterion was calculated. To define the weights of the sub-criteria, the detailed features of each criterion were determined and then, the total score of each sub-criterion was calculated by multiplying the score achieved in the first hierarchical analysis by the score attained in the second one. Creativity had the maximum score [38%], being responsible and prominent, were in second place acquiring 31% of the total weight. The highest grades belonged to registration of invention [127], cooperation in writing books and articles [104], and having high rank in Olympiads [92], respectively. The educational status which previously was the only admission criterion was in the fourth position, after having high rank in Olympiads. The areas of creativity, responsibility and being prominent were the main criteria for talented students' admission and there was not any significant difference between their scores. The educational status had a less important role in the prioritization system of this study. It seems that a student is required to have the three main criteria to be recognized as talented

course evaluation tool based on SPICES model, and its application to evaluation of medical pharmacology course

The SPICES model has been proposed to be used both as a framework for quality improvement in medical education and as a guide for evaluation of curricula. The six strategies of SPICES are representatives of innovative approaches to medical education, and each one has been considered as a continuum. The present study models a theory-based questionnaire, based on SPICES, to be used as a course evaluation tool, through developing a conceptual model for each continuum of the six. At the first step, operational definition and questionnaire development was performed as an extensive literature review and consensus building in a focus groups of experts. The content and face validity of questionnaire was confirmed. In the second phase-as a pilot -, the questionnaire was used for evaluation of Medical Pharmacology course at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The results showed that Medical Pharmacology course located in the traditional end of SPICES continua according to the most aspects of the course. The pilot study showed that the questionnaire scale should he changed. Also it may be more feasible and valid if an item bank is prepared based on the proposed matrix and appropriate items are selected according to the general situation of the curriculum

CPR education before internship

The importance of training basic and advanced life support for undergraduates and graduated physicians are now widely recognized. Graduates of medical schools in Iran immediately get license to practice medicine without any supervision. Therefore, Clarification of the best phases for training CPR and the optimum mastery level in each phase is very important. This study is an attempt to find out the ideas of stakeholders about training CPR before internship, the experience needed at the beginning of internship, the best phase for training it and the assessment method. It is a survey study designed in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences to investigate the opinions of head-nurses, interns, residents and educational directors [in ten clinical departments/ wards] about training CPR before internship. Respondents completed self administered anonymous questionnaires. The questionnaires' items covered opinions of respondents about CPR as interns' duty level of experience; best course for training and the assessment method. Meanwhile, views of participants were compared against educational directors' idea by Fisher exact test. 32 head-nurse, 285 interns, 13 resident and 15 educational directors participated in the study and all agreed with CPR as interns' duty in all clinical wards. Although, directors had different idea about level of experience for CPR to be achieved by interns, residents suggested level 3 of experience. According to the results externship is the best phase for CPR training and combination of observation and OSCE suggested as the best assessment method. To prepare the graduates achieving full competency in CPR performance, it is needed to implement training programs before internship. Internship is the best phase for getting expertise in CPR. Based on the results CPR considered as interns' responsibility and medical schools should feel confidence about the competency of interns in CPR at the beginning of internship

How does teaching clinical skills influence instructors' professional behaviour?

Purpose: "Introduction to Clinical Medicine" in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services is an initiative in which general practitioners work as instructors and have the opportunity to experience teaching in addition to clinical practice. Since teaching, affects both teacher and students, this study aims to assess the influence of teaching clinical skills on the instructors' psychological, social and professional behavior

Methods: this was performed as a qualitative study. The research population consisted of instructors of "Introduction to Clinical Medicine" who were all general practitioners and acted as facilitator in small groups working on physical examination and case discussion. The data collecting tool was a semi-structured interview which was recorded on the tape. Then, the interviews were transcribed and confirmed by interviewees at the end. 10 instructors were interviewed. The data were analysed according to Colaizzi model

Results: after coding the data to 38 main subjects, they were classified into three main categories including professional, psychological and social effects. The influence of teaching on professional performance included performing a thorough and correct physical examination, taking a detailed and correct history, increasing decision making ability and increasing professional knowledge. Some of the psychological effects were increasing self-confidence, job satisfaction and morale. The social effects of teaching were increasing social contacts, having a relationship with an academic environment and having a respectful job

Conclusion: considering the positive effects of teaching on instructors, teaching clinical skills by general practitioners can increase general practitioners knowledge and clinical skills and improve their morale. It is recommended to train general practitioners both for teaching skills and clinical skills and consider this, as an opportunity for physicians' continuing education