Educational Needs of Top Administrators and Managers Working at Vice-Chancelleries for Health in Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences

Introduction: Identifying educational needs and implementing appropriate courses is one of the important steps to empower managers and experts. It also has an important role in improving organizational performance. In this study we aimed to determine the educational needs of managers and top administrators of health vice-chancelleries in Iranian universities of medical sciences Methods: This cross- sectional study was conducted in spring 2010. The research sample was selected through systematic and stratified randomization from among the staff working in health vice-chancelleries of 13 medical universities. All available managers and top administrators in the selected universities were interviewed by using census approach. The questionnaire included individual and organizational variables and 28 management topics. Results: Interviews of 293 managers and top administrators revealed that 26 (92.9 %) out of 28 topics had been rated 3.5 and above(out of 5). There were significant correlations between the mean scores of some needs and the type of universities, sex, age, work experience, educational level, passing MPH courses, work place and the current position of the participants (P<0.05). Conclusion: Based on the high rate of topics with considerable mean scores, it is suggested to have short and long term management training courses.