[Assessment of the quality of educational services by the SERVQUAL model: viewpoints of the students at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences]

Students as the main stakeholders of educational system evaluate the quality of educational services according to their expectations and conceptions. Therefore the viewpoints of students on the quality of educational services are regarded essential in all scientific centers in the world. This study was conducted to determine the gap between expectations and conceptions of the students at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences'. This was a descriptive-analytical study. The study population included students of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences studying in four faculties including; Medicine, Paramedical, Health and Nursing in the first semester of 90-91 academic year. 200 students were selected on the basis of systematic random sampling. Data gathering tool was standard ServQual questionnaire .198 students completed the questionnaires. Using SPSS software, data analysis was performed by descriptive statistics as well as Mann Whitney U and Kruscal Wallis tests. Although there was negative gaps in all five dimensions of quality including; assurance, responsiveness, empathy, reliability and tangibility, maximum and minimum quality gaps belonged to responsiveness [-2/02] and assurance [-0/32] respectively. There was no statistically significant differences between male and female students in regard to the gap in the five dimensions of service quality [p>0.05]. Also there was no statistically significant relationship in the five dimensions of service quality and education levels of the students [p>0.05]. In all five dimensions of service quality, There was a statistically significant difference in expectation scope between male and female students [p=0/0001]. There are negative gaps in all five dimensions of educational service quality between expectations and conceptions of the students at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. To reduce this gap, it is necessary to revise educational methods and management.

Scientific output of Kurdistan university of medical sciences according to scientometric indicators till the end of 2011

One of the most important indicators in scientific output in the world is the number of articles indexed in international and reliable indices. Many scientific institutions perform statistical analysis on countries, institutions and individuals. Institutions of Scientific Information [ISI] indexes the scientific information of most of international scientific journals. Using information on Web of Science we can evaluate scientific output of countries, universities and individuals and compare them with one another. The aim of this study was to assess the status of scientific output of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences according to scientometric indicators until the end of 2011and compare it with those of other universities within the same rank, in Iran. By use of basic search in Web of Science and choosing SCIÜEXPANDED index from 1993 to 2011 different affiliated addresses indexed in WOS for Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences combined by using OR operator, then data were collected and analyzed. Total number of records indexed in WOS till the end of 2011 was 157. Maximum and minimum number of records were 111[71/5%] and 1 [0/5%] respectively. Maximum number of scientific output belonged to public, environmental and occupational health with 35[22/87%], tropical medicine with 24[15/68%], general and internal medicine with 21[13/75%], pharmacology with 12[7/19%], and multidisciplinary chemistry with 10[6/53%] records. Each of the other subjects had less than 10 records. Canada had maximum international collaboration with 7 records and Egypt, Philippines, Thailand, each with one record had minimum international collaboration. Maximum national collaboration was related to Tehran University of Medical Sciences with 29 records and Tarbeyat Modaress University with 13 records.157 records of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences had been published in 89 journals, among them 23 journals, published maximum number of articles [54%]. Only 5 journals were Iranian. Total number of citations was 300 and average citations per article was 1/91.Average article for every academic member was 2/8. Scientific output of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences has been on the rise. Increase in citations is indicative of improvement of the quality of the articles in this university