Effective factors in planning, implementation, and management of educational program evaluation in medical sciences: A practical guide.

BACKGROUND: Educational program evaluation is a complex issue, and it is essential to have knowledge of the potential challenges and solutions during the whole process. The present study aimed to identify the influential components in planning, implementation, and evaluation management of educational programs in medical sciences and then provide an applied guide to guarantee the best possible evaluation by evaluators of educational programs. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive study was conducted in three steps. First, the effective components in planning, implementation, and evaluation management of educational programs in medical sciences were reviewed. Second, experts' opinion was asked through a focus group discussion regarding the mentioned components. Third, regarding the complied applied guide, the opinions of 40 medical educationist and program evaluation experts were investigated using a checklist. RESULTS: An applied guide for planning, implementation, and evaluation management of educational programs in medical sciences consists of eight stages: determining the evaluation questions and standards, determining the type of information required, determining resources to collect information, determining methods and tools to collect information, determining data analysis methods, determining the timing and frequency of reporting, determining the appropriate ways of reporting, and determining strategies to maintain the cooperation of data sources. CONCLUSION: The spread of educational programs in medical sciences universities leads to an increasing need for program evaluation to provide evidence of their effectiveness and improvement. The present research provided an applied guide to make the evaluation of educational programs feasible by using a set of concepts, principles, methods, theories, and models.

Health profession education hackathons: a scoping review of current trends and best practices.

BACKGROUND: While the concept of hacking in education has gained traction in recent years, there is still much uncertainty surrounding this approach. As such, this scoping review seeks to provide a detailed overview of the existing literature on hacking in health profession education and to explore what we know (and do not know) about this emerging trend. METHODS: This was a scoping review study using specific keywords conducted on 8 databases (PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, ERIC, PsycINFO, Education Source, CINAHL) with no time limitation. To find additional relevant studies, we conducted a forward and backward searching strategy by checking the reference lists and citations of the included articles. Studies reporting the concept and application of hacking in education and those articles published in English were included. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were screened and the data were extracted by 2 authors. RESULTS: Twenty-two articles were included. The findings are organized into two main categories, including (a) a Description of the interventions and expected outcomes and (b) Aspects of hacking in health profession education. CONCLUSION: Hacking in health profession education refers to a positive application that has not been explored before as discovering creative and innovative solutions to enhance teaching and learning. This includes implementing new instructional methods, fostering collaboration, and critical thinking to utilize unconventional approaches.

Investigating the role of clinical exposure on motivational self-regulation skills in medical students based on cognitive apprenticeship model.

BACKGROUND: The importance of motivation regulation in medical students is highly significant due to their unique educational circumstances, such as clinical exposure. However, the role of clinical exposure in learning motivational self-regulation skills in students has not been explored thus far. This current study aims to investigate the role of clinical exposure on motivational self-regulation skills in medical students based on cognitive apprenticeship model. METHOD: This study was descriptive-analytical research conducted in 2022 on medical students. Data collection involved two questionnaires including Meta motivational Strategies in Medical Students Questionnaire and Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire. The research comprised two stages including measuring motivational self-regulation strategies in students before entering the clinical exposure phase, and simultaneous measurement of clinical exposure based on the student's viewpoint and their motivational self-regulation strategies at the end of the first term of clinical exposure. RESULTS: The results revealed a significant relationship between six dimensions of the cognitive apprenticeship model, including modeling, coaching, scaffolding, reflection, exploration, and learning environment, with motivational self-regulation strategies. However, there was no significant relationship between the articulation dimension of the cognitive apprenticeship model and motivational self-regulation strategies. CONCLUSION: Clinical exposure indirectly enhances students' metacognitive skills. Observing the behavior of clinical faculty in the clinical exposure setting leads to the improvement of motivational self-regulation strategies in medical students.

Pathology and solutions for activities of medical education development offices.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Education development offices are one of the main branches of medical education centers for directing the educational performance of medical sciences universities to achieve educational goals. Due to their close presence and communication with educational environments, these offices are highly important. To effectively guide and empower these offices, it is necessary to analyze their current situation, identify the challenges, and provide solutions to address them. This study was conducted to identify the challenges and provide solutions for the activities of medical education development offices. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted in two stages, including 29 semi-structured interviews and a focus group discussion with experts in 2022 at Kerman University of Medical Sciences. The sampling method was purposive. The content analysis of data was performed based on conventional qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Data analysis resulted in the emergence of two main categories including challenges facing the activities of medical education development offices and solutions for improving the activities of these offices, and comprising some categories containing organizational structure factors, cognitive factors, communication factors, and motivational factors. CONCLUSION: Education development offices are one of medical universities' main policymaking and quality control institutions. Efforts are being made to establish EDOs structures within the university. The formation of a clear and performance-based reward system for faculty members who are the managers of the EDOs is proposed. Improving interactions between EDOs and other parts of the university to coordinate activities, and exchange of experiences are highlighted.

Exploring medical students' perceptions of empathy after cinemeducation based on Vygotsky's theory.

BACKGROUND: Medical students' empathy toward patients with Alzheimer's is rarely found in formal medical curricula. Based on Vygotsky's theory, watching films and reflection can be considered as effective methods to improve empathy. The present study aimed to explore medical students' perceptions of empathy toward patients with Alzheimer after participating in an educational program by using interactive video based on Vygotsky's theory. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted at Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2022. The population included all 40 medical students. Firstly, the Still Alice movie which is about the feelings of a professor who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease was shown to the students. Secondly, the students reflected on their experiences of watching the movie. Thirdly, a session was held for group discussion on the subject of the movie, the patient's feelings, the doctor's attitude, the social environment surrounding the patient shown in the movie, and the necessity of empathy toward patients with Alzheimer's disease. The reflection papers were analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis method. RESULTS: After analyzing 216 codes from 38 reflection papers, four categories, including communication with a patient with Alzheimer's, understanding the patient with Alzheimer's as a whole, medical science development, and the student's individual ideology, were extracted. CONCLUSION: Reflection and group discussion after watching movie by providing opportunities for social interaction about personal interpretations will lead to active role in enhancing empathy. Based on the perceptions of the medical students, they gained a perspective to consider the patient as a whole and pay attention to establishing a proper relationship with the patient.

Exploring the viewpoint of faculty members of medical sciences universities about effective factors on their organizational retention: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Faculty retention in medical sciences universities is one of the most important values for the survival of the educational system. This study aimed to explore the viewpoint of faculty members of medical sciences universities in Iran about effective factors affecting their organizational retention. METHODS: Qualitative study using deep interviews collected by maximum variation sampling. A purposively selected sample of 15 faculty members was recruited throughout two Iranian medical sciences universities (Tehran University of Medical Sciences and Kerman University of Medical Sciences) during 2021-22. RESULTS: Qualitative data analysis provided 3 main categories and 10 sub-categories. Three main categories were identified that affected the faculty's organizational retention included individual factors, institutional factors, and socio-political factors. CONCLUSION: Factors that contribute to the improvement of faculty retention encompass various aspects. These include consideration given to the personal and social requirements of faculty members, support provided by the organization along with effective resource management, a fair and transparent organizational structure, and the maintenance of political stability both within the university and the nation.

Psychometric evaluation of Persian version of medical artificial intelligence readiness scale for medical students.

BACKGROUND: Artificial intelligence's advancement in medicine and its worldwide implementation will be one of the main elements of medical education in the coming years. This study aimed to translate and psychometric evaluation of the Persian version of the medical artificial intelligence readiness scale for medical students. METHODS: The questionnaire was translated according to a backward-forward translation procedure. Reliability was assessed by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Confirmatory Factor Analysis was conducted on 302 medical students. Content validity was evaluated using the Content Validity Index and Content Validity Ratio. RESULTS: The Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole scale was found to be 0.94. The Content Validity Index was 0.92 and the Content Validity Ratio was 0.75. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed a fair fit for four factors: cognition, ability, vision, and ethics. CONCLUSION: The Persian version of the medical artificial intelligence readiness scale for medical students consisting of four factors including cognition, ability, vision, and ethics appears to be an almost valid and reliable instrument for the evaluation of medical artificial intelligence readiness.

Identification of alternative topics to diversify medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy student theses: a mixed method study.

INTRODUCTION: The impact of medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy student theses on public health is a crucial concern for policymakers in medical science universities. If student theses correspond to the needs of society, they can significantly affect students' scientific and practical abilities and lead to the provision of more efficient health services. This study aimed to identify alternative topics to diversify medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy student theses. METHODS: This mixed method study with an exploratory sequential design was conducted at Kerman University of Medical Science from February to June 2021. The qualitative component entailed a focus group of faculty members (n = 16) and students (n = 4) to extract alternative topics to diversify medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy student theses. The quantitative component included a questionnaire based on emerging subjects and literature review to evaluate the extracted alternative topics. Qualitative data were analyzed using conventional content analysis and quantitative data were analyzed descriptively. RESULTS: A total of 20 key participants took part in the focus group meeting, and from 20 questionnaires, 15 were returned with a response rate of 75%. A list of 18 alternative topics was generated and five categories were identified: individual development, research, education, healthcare, and social services. CONCLUSIONS: The gap between what we know and what is seen in practice is quite large in medical and health-related professions. Alternative topics for medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy student theses contribute to turning knowledge into practice.

Psychometric evaluation of Maastricht clinical teaching questionnaire based on the cognitive apprenticeship model.

BACKGROUND: The Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the quality of clinical teaching. This study was aimed at translation and psychometric evaluation of the Persian version of this questionnaire to evaluate clinical teaching based on the cognitive apprenticeship model. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The translation of the questionnaire was performed according to Guillemins framework. Reliability was examined by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Confirmatory factor analysis was studied among 120 medical students. Content validity was assessed by calculating the content validity index and content validity ratio. Face validity was evaluated by conducting interviews with students using concurrent verbal probing and thinking aloud. RESULTS: Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole scale was 0.95. The content validity index was 0.92, and the content validity ratio was 0.82. Confirmatory factor analysis resulted in a seven-factor model and demonstrated an adequate fit with the data. CONCLUSION: The Persian version of the Maastricht Clinical Teaching Questionnaire with seven factors including modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, exploration, and learning environment appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for the evaluation of clinical teaching in Iranian universities of medical sciences.

Faculty Development in the COVID-19 Era: A Rapid Systematic Review.

Background: The coronavirus-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a worldwide evolving situation that has resulted in rapid adaptations of faculty development interventions in medical education. The present rapid systematic review aims to provide a narrative synthesis of the evidence concerning focus, intervention type, instructional methods, duration, and the evaluations results of the faculty development interventions in the medical education area in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This was a systematic study conducted on 5 databases (Medline/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, ERIC, and Scopus) from December 2019 to November 2021. We used specific keywords such as faculty development, COVID-19, and medical education on electronic databases. To find additional relevant studies, we conducted a forward and backward searching strategy by checking the reference lists and citations of the included articles. Studies reporting the educational faculty development interventions in medical education during the COVID-19 era and those articles published in English were included. Titles, abstracts, and full texts were screened and the data were extracted by 2 authors. Results: Ten articles were included, most of which were focused on the improvement of online teaching and learning skills. The findings are organized into 2 main categories, including a description of the interventions, and the special aspects of the studies in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: This review explores the evidence concerning faculty development programs in the medical education area in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. These interventions may develop individual abilities and organizational capacities of health professions educators to enable them to sustain academic vitality and cope with the pandemic crisis. Also a rapid movement to online faculty developments, which will likely continue after the pandemic, was argued and it is required to direct the adaptations and innovations of educational developments to an organized structure in the future.

Challenges and solutions for the promotion of medical sciences faculty members in Iran: a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The faculty promotion system is expected to benefit the faculty, institute, and profession and lead to the sustainable and comprehensive development. This present systematic review aims to investigate the challenges and solutions for the promotion of medical sciences faculty members in Iran. METHOD: This study was a systematic review conducted by searching in PubMed, Scopus, Eric, Web of Science, Cochrane, SID, Magiran, and https://irandoc.ac.ir/line with Persian and English terms in the period from 2015 to 2020. Study selection and data extraction were performed independently by reviewers. RESULTS: Thirteen articles were included. Challenges and solutions for the promotion of medical sciences faculty members were reviewed and grouped into five main categories: 1. The general regulations for the promotion of faculty members, 2. Cultural, disciplinary, and social activities, 3. Educational activities, 4. Research-technology activities, and 5. Scientific-executive activities. CONCLUSION: Despite several modifications to regulations for the promotion of medical sciences faculty members in Iran, this process still encounters challenges because of its complex nature. This article provides tips to policymakers on regulations of promotion for educational activities.

Organizational impact of faculty development programs on the medical teacher's competencies.

BACKGROUND: Faculty development programs as useful approaches for organizational development improved competencies in faculty members which assist them to cope with workload and environment changes. Evaluating organizational development for faculty development programs provides insight into the impact of these programs on system development. The aim of present study was conducted to study the organizational development for faculty development programs at Kerman University of Medical Sciences. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This analytical and cross-sectional study was conducted between October and December 2020. The organizational development for faculty development questionnaire was sent to a simple random sampling of 100 faculty members who had been participated in the "Medical Education Fellowship" program. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics including independent sample t-test, one-way ANOVA, and post hoc, using version 24.0 of SPSS. RESULTS: The response rate was 82%. Most of the faculty highly agreed that the "Medical Education Fellowship" program had produced organizational development. The score of the "Development and sustaining faculty development programs" domain (mean = 3.35, standard deviation [SD] =0.96) was higher than "Development and innovation in teaching and learning process" (mean = 3.31, SD = 0.74). CONCLUSIONS: Specific characteristics of the organizational development process for faculty development programs in health profession education were recognized. The findings emphasized on the importance of these interventions on creating developments in the broader community system.

Psychometric evaluation of a questionnaire to evaluate organizational capacity development for faculty development programs.

BACKGROUND: Organizational capacity development is an important outcome of faculty development programs, but there is a lack of an appropriate instrument for its evaluation. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire to evaluate the organizational capacity development for faculty development programs and to test its psychometrics. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The initial capacity development for faculty development questionnaire (CDQ-FD) of 26 items was developed based on a literature review and opinion of experts. Content validity ratio (CVR), content validity index (CVI), content validity index for items (I-CVI), and the content validity index for scales (S-CVI) were computed for content validity. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) were performed for construct validation. RESULTS: The score for CVR, CVI, I-CVI, and S-CVI was 0.71, 0.83, 0.87, and 0.90, respectively. EFA resulted in a three-factor model with total variance extraction of 64%. Cronbach's alpha and Spearman Brown coefficient were investigated for reliability assessment. The Cronbach's alpha of overall scale was 0.8 and the test-retest reliability of the overall scale was 0.78. The final CDQ-FD contained 21 items and three categories. CONCLUSIONS: The CDQ-FD questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for the evaluation of organizational capacity development for faculty development in the medical education.

Identification of capacity development indicators for faculty development programs: A nominal group technique study.

BACKGROUND: Although there have been many research studies of the effectiveness of faculty development in health profession education, the contribution of these programs to organizational development through capacity development has not been studied. Further understanding of capacity development requires appropriate indicators and no previous indicators for faculty development of health profession educators were identified. The aim of the study was to identify indicators of capacity development in the context of faculty development programs at Tehran University of medical sciences (TUMS). METHODS: A nominal group technique session was conducted with key informants from faculty development program providers to generate and prioritize a list of capacity development indicators. RESULTS: A list of 26 indicators was generated and five categories were identified: Development and innovation in teaching and learning process, Development and innovation in communication and collaboration at different levels, Development and sustaining faculty development programs, Development of educational leadership and management, Development in scholarship. CONCLUSIONS: Capacity development for faculty development interventions of health profession educators is a process of engagement within a wider system, including individual and collective action, and involves the socialization of the teachers into suitable roles through professional identity development and participation within the wider system.