a viewpoint on medical education in iran

one of the unique characteristics of medicaluniversities compared to other higher education centers in iran is existence ofmedical education development centers. these centers have made an attempt toenhance the quality of medical education by regular and constant activity invarious domains of educational planning and policymaking, and empowerment ofthe faculty members, students and personnel. numerous studies published inpersian and english journals are one of the achievements of these centers.also, several persian and english scientific journals are being published bythese centers among which the role of the few english languages journals ofthese centers is remarkably significant. since these journals attract moreaudience, especially from abroad, it is necessary to pay special heed to thequality of their published articles. avoiding the publication of such articlesas “analysis of awareness and attitude” and turning to innovative interventionstudies in medical education (1) have been highlighted by the authorities ofmedical education. during the past 30 years, the planners andmedical sciences teachers have made to keep up with global developments inmedicine. however, medical education in iran has encountered numerouschallenges, some of which have been referred to in the literature such asincompatibility of education with the real needs of the society, necessity ofrevising the syllabi and scientific resources, and weakness of clinicaleducation (2, 3). one of the challenges highlighted in the recent years is thedecreasing trend in medical students’ motivation and their academic failure.various studies have investigated the factors affecting the students’ academicfailure (4, 5), but few studies have analyzed the practical and scientificsolutions to decrease and prevent it. accepting undergraduate students iniranian universities is state-based and the fact that universities have no rolein the selection and acceptance of students, determining appropriate strategiesto prevent academic failure can preserve financial and human investment andenhance the academic rank of the universities. taking the academic failure intoaccount as one of the challenges facing medical education in iran and doingintervention and meta-analysis studies are recommended.the increasing number of medical sciencesstudents, especially general medicine during the recent years, that has causedcongestion in theoretical and practical classes and relative decline in thequality of education, is also another noticeable challenge in the medicaleducation. it seems necessary to have appropriate and prospective plan for thisquantitative increase of students before they enter clinical wards in hospitalsand to make anticipations for the preparation of physical and educationalconditions and facilities needed for clinical and outpatient training. takinginto account of the ability and interest of the new generation of students inelectronic facilities like internet and mobile and explicit emphasis ofeducational authorities and programmers of the country in the recent medicaleducation congress (2013) on the necessity of applying virtual education,designing new educational programs and models based on virtual education can beconsidered as one of the methods of coping with the given challenge.