Purpose: Narrative medicine consists of the expression of medical experiences and the reflection on narratives to foster empathic communication with patients. Reflecting on narratives increases self-awareness and recognition of the feelings of the narrator or the story’s main character, which in turn affects the audience. This study was conducted to examine the impact of a narrative medicine program on the reflective capacity and empathy of medical students.Methods: A quasi-experimental study was performed during the 2018–2019 academic year at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in Iran involving 135 medical interns in 2 groups (control [n=66] and experimental [n=69]). Interns in the experimental group took part in seven 2-hour reflective practice sessions, while those in the control group underwent no educational intervention. Pre-test and post-test assessments were conducted for both groups using 2 valid and reliable tools for the assessment of reflective capacity and empathy. Mean reflection and empathy scores were compared within groups (between pre- and post-test values) and between groups (using the paired-t test and the t-test; P≤0.05).Results: The mean reflection and empathy scores of the experimental group significantly increased from pre-test to post-test, but those of the control group did not. Moreover, the mean post-test scores were significantly different between the 2 groups (P<0.001).Conclusion: Narrative medicine is an effective teaching method that can improve reflective capacity and empathy, thereby ultimately promoting professionalism as a core competency in medicine. Consideration of learning conditions and interdisciplinary teaching are necessary for implementing a narrative medicine program.

BackgroundReflection on practical experiences is a key element that enables students to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses and develop nursing skills. Whilst reflection may enhance students’ learning in practice, there is little evidence about nursing students’ perception of the consequences of reflection in clinical settings.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore Iranian nursing students’ perception regarding the consequences of reflection during clinical practices.MethodsThis qualitative study was conducted by a conventional content analysis approach in two nursing schools at Shiraz and Fasa Universities of Medical Sciences in Iran. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews during 2015–2016, from 20 students selected by purposive sampling. All the interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed by content analysis method. Rigor of this study was approved by member check and external audit.ResultsTwo categories emerged from the data analysis, including movement toward professionalism and self-actualization of emotions. The former consisted of three subcategories of function modification, sharing experiences and generalizing experiences. The latter consisted of two subcategories of inner satisfaction and peace of mind.ConclusionThe results indicated that nursing students’ reflection in clinical settings is effective in personal and professional levels. Reflection in a personal level led to positive emotions that increased the quality of care in patients. Accordingly, nursing educators need to create a nurturing climate as well as supporting reflective behaviors of nursing students.

Background:Appropriate quality achievement of a PhD program requires frequent assessment and discovering the shortcomings in the program. Inputs, which are important elements of the curriculum, are frequently missed in evaluations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the input indicators of reproductive health PhD program in Iran based on the Context, Input, Process, and Product (CIPP) evaluation model.Materials and Methods:This is a descriptive and evaluative study based on the CIPP evaluation model. It was conducted in 2013 in four Iranian schools of nursing and midwifery of medical sciences universities. Statistical population consisted of four groups: heads of departments (n = 5), faculty members (n = 18), graduates (n = 12), and PhD students of reproductive health (n = 54). Data collection tools were five separate questionnaires including 37 indicators that were developed by the researcher. Content and face validity were evaluated based on the experts’ indications. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated in order to obtain the reliability of the questionnaires. Collected data were analyzed by SPSS software. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, percentage, and standard deviation), and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and least significant difference (LSD) post hoc tests to compare means between groups.Results:The results of the study indicated that the highest percentage of the heads of departments (80%), graduates (66.7%), and students (68.5%) evaluated the status of input indicators of reproductive health PhD program as relatively appropriate, while most of the faculties (66.7%) evaluated that as appropriate.Conclusions:It is suggested to explore the reasons for relatively appropriate evaluation of input indicators by further academic researches and improve the reproductive health PhD program accordingly.

Context: In order to improve the quality of clinical education, it is necessary to investigate the current situation in clinical settings and identify its problems. This step is the most important part of modifying a clinical education program and meeting learning goals. The purpose of this study was to identify the challenges and problems of clinical medical education in Iran. Evidence Acquisition: This systematic review was performed to determine the challenges and problems of clinical medical education in Iran in 2017. In order to retrieve articles, the following keywords: Clinical education, bedside teaching, clinical teaching, teaching round, ward round, ward round teaching, bedside round, teaching round, medical education, clinical round, ambulatory education, clinic education, grand round, and education in emergency were searched in reliable Persian and English databases. Then, the articles related to the research objective were carefully reviewed and key information was extracted. Data were analyzed using MAXQDA software version 10. Conclusions: The problems of clinical education are in different areas. Identifying these areas and planning for them can improve clinical education status, achieve educational goals, and provide medical students with a more effective education.

Purpose Teachers’ evaluation and giving feedback on their educational performance has been a great concern of all medical universities, especially in clinical settings. The opinion of teachers (as feedback recipients) about the feedback process and its usefulness is very critical for the feedback to be effective. This study aimed to identify the perspectives of internal medicine teachers on receiving feedback about their educational performance. Materials and methods In a qualitative content analysis study, from October 2016 to July 2017, 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with the internal medicine teachers selected purposefully. Recorded and transcribed interviews were analyzed using an inductive content analysis approach. Results Three themes emerged: “Feedback elements”, “Feedback outcomes”, and “Effective feedback strategies”. The first includes two categories: human and background elements. “Human elements” consists of three subcategories including “Sources of feedback”, “Feedback provider”, and “Feedback recipient”. “Background elements” includes three subcategories which are the underlying conditions in the feedback process: “Performing performance”, “Data collection”, and “Giving feedback”. The third theme contains three categories: “Developing a systemic approach to feedback”, “Appropriate educational policies for teacher recruitment and promotion”, and “Using others’ experiences”. Conclusion The current study represents clinical teachers’ opinions about the feedback elements, issues affecting the feedback process, and their recommendations for effective feedback. All these helped the researchers to develop a feedback cycle, which starts with “performing the performance” and continues with “performance data collection”, “data analysis and interpretation”, “feedback presentation”, and “feedback follow-up”. The researchers recommend the feedback officials to study teachers’ opinions obtained in the current study and use the feedback cycle to provide more effective feedback.

BackgroundInterprofessional education is considered as one of the approaches in educating learners in the health system that increases interprofessional collaboration and improves the quality of patient care.PurposeThis study sought to design an interprofessional continuing education model.MethodsThis study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, a systematic review of literature and search of databases were conducted to identify the common models of interprofessional continuing education and to extract the elements used in these models. In the second stage, specialists in interprofessional continuing education were interviewed in relation to the features of elements derived from the first stage. In the third stage, the model of interprofessional continuing education was designed using the results of the first and second stages.ResultsSeven models were obtained. Five themes, including the subject of interprofessional continuing education, objectives, content, learning strategy, and evaluation strategies, were extracted from them. Specialists stated interprofessional collaboration, needs of community and learners, focus on patient, using interactive teaching methods, and feedback as the main features of these five themes.ConclusionThe results of this study showed that providing a framework and model regulated in interprofessional continuing education programs can help design these programs.

Introduction Medical faculties are responsible for the training and development of future physicians. Therefore, they must learn the teaching methods. Considering their extensive roles, adult learning theory, and technological developments, the best solution is e-learning. This study extracted the views and preferences of clinical faculties about the electronic faculty development programs. Methods Clinical faculty members and medical education and e-learning specialists from medical universities in Iran participated in this qualitative content analysis study during 2017–2018. Data were collected with purposive sampling method by 18 semi-structured interviews and 2 focus groups with 11 participants. The data were analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis method. Validity and accuracy of data were provided on the basis of Guba and Lincoln criteria. Results Five categories including “Technology infrastructure” (Presentation, Platform, E-Learning environment), “learner” (Features, Motivation), ”Program management” (Blending, Interaction), “content” (Design, Application, Organization), and “evaluation” (Learner assessment, Program evaluation) were extracted. Conclusion Faculty members prefer to attend e-learning courses that focus on individualization, blended learning, and mobile learning. The best solution is to use the microlearning approach, that is, short pieces of content focusing on a learning goal that can be presented by all electronic devices in the form of any kind of media, and is in fact the learning fingerfood.

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.