Iranian Journal of Medical Education

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Introduction. Considering the improvement of teaching quality in higher education, this study was planned to evaluate the field training in the Faculty of Management and Medical Information by students. Its results will be used in planning field training for this faculty. Methods. A checklist with five variables was distributed among 57 students in this descriptive survey. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed by content validity and test, re-test. Data analysis was done by SPSS software. Results. Student’s self-assessment of their competences was significantly different in all three groups. A significant relationship was observed between students learning from their teachers and their competences in management training and using databases. There was also a significant relationship between their competence, and their self-study and assignments. Conclusion. According to the results of this study, revising practical training in some sections, increasing training hours and involving faculty members more in training seem to be necessary.

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Introduction. Needs assessment data provide a basis for developing learning objectives of CME activities. Identifying the viewpoints of Iranian CME experts about the characteristics of an effective needs assessment (NA) model for physicians’, dentists’ and pharmacists’ CME programs was the aim of this study. Methods. In a descriptive study all CME directors and experts (50 persons) were surveyed using a questionnaire composed of 6 multiple choice questions about some key components of CME needs assessment including the best definition for need, the source of data collection, the required level, and the procedure and criteria for prioritizing the needs. The face and content validity of the questionnaire were evaluated by some CME experts and Cronbach’s alpha was used for reliability assessment. The data was analyzed by SPSS software using frequency distribution and Chi2. Results. A total of 35 CME directors and experts (70%) responded to the survey. Based on their points of view: The best definition for need was “the distance between the present and optimum situation”(68.6%), the best source for needs assessment was “professional tasks” (34.3%), the most proper level for planning needs assessment was “national level” (34.3%) , the best method for performing needs assessment was “running needs assessment as a part of strategic planning” (45.8%) and “perceived needs of the clients” (48.6%), selection of needs assessment model according to “the level of needs assessment (37.1%)”, and the best criterion for prioritizing the needs was “the relevance with the professional tasks” ( 51.4%). Conclusion. Despite numerous literature about needs assessment, there is no unique model as the best appropriate one for all CME needs assessment programs. But, careful selection of needs assessment model for each situation, designing the content of continuing education programs based on previous needs assessments, identifying what is supposed to be assessed, and its position in planning and designing the topics of continuing education are the key points in planning needs assessment for continuing education

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Introduction: One of the most significant problems in clinical environment is the unskilled and inexperienced nurses. This is while, most managers are not aware of nurses' proficiency and competency level. Therefore, applying the new strategy of "organizing nursing mentors committee" by managers as well as their orientation in this regard could be considered as a strategy to improve clinical competency. Methods: This quasi-experimental study as two group design was performed to assess the clinical competency level of five novice nurses and their performance on 72 patients hospitalized in medical-surgical wards in one of the hospitals in Tehran in 2005. They were divided into two experiment and control groups, and were evaluated before and after the intervention. Data was collected using observational checklists in communicative, cognitive, and psychomotor competency domains as double blinded. Number of patients in the experiment group was 32 and in the control group was 40 which were matched before and after the intervention in each group. The allocation of the novice nurses into groups and wards was done randomly. Data was analyzed by SPSS software. Results: Clinical competency of the novice nurses increased in all three domains in both groups. Paired t–test showed this increase in both groups. Moreover, independent t-test demonstrated that the mean difference in the experiment group was higher than the control group. Novice nurses' clinical competency was in a primary level in both groups before the intervention, but, after 3 months was promoted to the advanced level in the experiment group who were exposed to mentors committee. Conclusion: Organizing "nursing mentors committee" is an effective strategy for nursing managers, in order to help novice nurses who need to acquire clinical competency in different domains in a limited time frame.

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Introduction: Population and family planning course is presented for different university disciplines in order to promote students' awareness toward family planning issues. This study was performed to determine the role of population and family planning course in knowledge and attitude of female BS (Bachelor of Science) students of Tabriz University toward family planning issues, compare the achieved knowledge in different groups of students, and determine their attitude toward the gender of this course's teacher. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 336 students were selected from all Female BS students entered into Tabriz University in the years 2004 and 2005, through multistage sampling method in the year 2007. A questionnaire in two sections of knowledge and attitude, each including three subjects of family planning, family organization, and demography was distributed among them. Data was analyzed by SPSS software using descriptive statistics, T-test, T independent test, and ANOVA. Results: Comparing the knowledge scores of family planning, family organization, and demography of taught students which respectively were 1.66, 8.04, and 7.88, to those of untaught students which were respectively, 0.58, 4.28, and 3.76, showed a significant difference. Also the attitude scores of taught students in the same subjects were respectively, 21.30, 22.10, and 21.20 and of untaught students were respectively, 19.26, 20.02, and 19.79, which their comparison revealed a significant difference. But no significant differe-nce was observed between the achieved knowledge of students in different educational groups. Most female students preferred female teacher for this course. Conclusion: Formal and academic education plays an essential role in enhancing the individuals' know-ledge and attitude. It is recommended to put effort on teaching family planning programs and choose female teachers in order to enrich the education for female students.

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One of the notions entered in university fields in the last two decades is the concept of scholarship and especially educational scholarship. Due to the inclusion of this concept in the first article of faculty members' academic promotion bylaw and considering it as a mandatory component for academic promotion, great attention has been paid to this topic. Remarking the background and principles prevailing this almost new perspective, this short communication endeavors for developing a ground for familiarizing the readers with the concept of scholarship, especially educational scholarship, and its manner of evaluation. Moreover, a little note has been made about substructures needed for broadening scholarship activities in the field of education as well as the challenges before that.

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Introduction:Nowadays, the effective teaching performance of faculty members and the factors affecting its growth in higher education system is of increasing importance. The main purpose of this study was to determine the effect of teaching dialogical skills to faculty members on their effective teaching performance.
Methods: This research was carried out in the first semester of the academic year 2016-17 using a quasi-experimental two-group, pretest-posttest study design. The sample consisted of 43 faculty members of Isfahan University who were divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group received training on the use of dialogical skills in the teaching process while no intervention was implemented in the control group. A researcher-made self-assessment questionnaire was administered before and after the intervention to determine the extent of application of effective teaching components by the faculty members. Data were analyzed using descriptive (frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation) and inferential (independent and paired t-tests) statistics.
Results:In the pre-test stage, the difference between the total mean scores (total=120) of effective teaching performance in the control group (100.10±26.51) and the experimental group (96.84±11.78) were not statistically significant (p=0.548). However, after the intervention, the improvement of the mean score of effective teaching was significant (p=0.028) in the experimental group (107.77±14.11) compared to that of the control group (95.66±14.28).
Conclusion:Application of dialogical skills in the teaching and learning process can help faculty members in favorable implementation of effective teaching and provide a basis for the efficiency of their teaching