Evaluation of the district health management fellowship training programme: a case study in Iran

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the district health management fellowship training programme in the north-west of Iran. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: The programme was introduced to build the managerial capacity of district health managers in Iran. Eighty-nine heads of units in the province’s health centre, district health managers and the health deputies of the district health centres in the north-west provinces of Iran had registered for the district health management fellowship training programme in Tabriz in 2015–2016. STUDY DESIGN: This was an educational evaluation study to evaluate training courses to measure participants' reactions and learning and, to a lesser extent, application of training to their job and the organisational impact. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Valid and reliable questionnaires were used to assess learning techniques and views towards the fellowship, and self-assessment of health managers’ knowledge and skills. Also, pretest and post-test examinations were conducted in each course and a portfolio was provided to the trainees to be completed in their work settings. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: About 63% of the participants were medical doctors and 42.3% of them had over 20 years of experience. Learning by practice (scored 18.37 out of 20) and access to publications (17.27) were the most useful methods of training in health planning and management from the participants’ perspective. Moreover, meeting peers from other districts and the academic credibility of teachers were the most important features of the current programme. Based on the managers’ self-assessment, they were most skilful in quality improvement, managing, planning and evaluation of the district. The results of the post-test analysis on data collected from district health managers showed the highest scores in managing the district (77 out of 100) and planning and evaluation (69) of the courses. CONCLUSION: The results of this study indicated that training courses, methods and improvement in managers' knowledge about the health system and the skills necessary to manage their organisation were acceptable.