Project Monitoring and Evaluation: An Enhancing Method for Health Research System Management

BACKGROUND: Planning, organizing, staffing, leading and monitoring are the basic functional component of management. In present article, we aim to define the project monitoring and evaluation in health research system (HRS) considering its success and challenges based on our national experience. METHODS: In this study based on the information of annual Medical Science Universities evaluation during the last decade the HRS indicators have been scored in three axes based on HRS functions: Stewardship, capacity building and knowledge production. In this article, we will focus on the results of HRS evaluation from 2002 to 2010, also on its success and challenges. RESULTS: In an overall view, the main results are the experiences of the designing and implantation of such process after pre-project preparation, all parts followed under the whole supervision of the aims of the HRS evaluation. Project management light the way of practical application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques for better HRS evaluation and management. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that; although monitoring and evaluation as an essential part of HRS Management light the improvement ahead way but we still need to advantage of the new project management advances.