A comparative study of the curriculum in master degree of medical education in Iran and some selected countries

BACKGROUND: When training efficient human resources for the health system, it is necessary to train appropriate student teaching and assessment methods and necessary skills for educational planning and evaluation. Therefore, studies and efforts to train human resources in the field of Iranian medical education have begun since 1994. The aim of the present study is a comparative study of the curriculum in master’s degree of medical education in Iran and some selected countries. METHODS: This is applied, descriptive and comparative research. Data were collected by electronic search on the website of the selected universities. Each of these selected educational curricula, the newest curriculum of the studied universities at the time of the present research, was translated into fluent Persian and studied in detail. The model used in the present study is the famous Polish Bereday model. A quota sampling method was used and universities were selected at a 1:10 ratio from each classified area. Institutions that offered master’s degrees in medical education were chosen in each region using the World Health Organization (WHO) classification based on QS World University Rankings (2020). The data collection instrument was a researcher-made checklist, which was used to extract the relevant data available on the website of selected universities. This checklist consisted of eight items, which included course title, course length, mission, vision, goals, admission process, teaching methods (online, In-person, and both), educational strategies, teaching methods, and student assessment. These eight items were compared at selected universities. RESULTS: The samples included seven selected universities including Kebangsaan University in Asia, the University of Toronto in Canada, the University of Michigan in America, the University of Bern and Imperial College in Europe, Monash University in Australia, and Iranian universities. Student admission in Iran is carried out through a centralized exam; therefore, most faculties do not have the option to select students and criteria for student selection. The course length in all universities is between 1–3 years (depending on part-time/full-time) and most of the studied universities offer this field as modular degree courses. CONCLUSIONS: The characteristics of the curriculum for the master’s degree of medical education in Iran and selected countries showed the differences and similarities of this course among the top universities of different continents. Unlike other countries, the curriculum for a master’s degree in medical education in Iran is offered in a centralized manner in eight universities of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti, Iran, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, Kerman, and Mashhad.