Investigating the Rate of Adaptation between the Courses of Radiation Technology and Job Requirements from the Perspective of Graduates

Introduction: the experts of radiology play a crucial role in the treatment programs of the patients in hospitals. Therefore, in order to recognize the needs, the experts’ opinion should be obtained about whether the educational program meets the job requirements or not. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the rate of adaptation between the courses of radiation technology and job requirements from the perspective of graduates Method: This is a descriptive analytical study, conducted on 59 graduates of radiation technology working in the hospitals affiliated with Birjand University of Medical Sciences, 2016.The data were collected via questionnaire that included two parts: demographic information and the questions about the extent to which basic and specific course content is used. The answers were in three scales (low, medium, high). The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts of medical education. The reliability was assessed byCronbach's alpha (82%).The data were analyzed by SPSS 16 and descriptive data (frequency and percentage) and independent-t were utilized. Findings: in accordance with the results, the perspective of the associate degree graduates about the adaptation of basic courses with job requirements was that the content of the courses of anatomy, bones and joint 1 and 2 was most adapted (87.5%) and the content of general physics course had the last adaptation (17.7%). From the perspective of the experts, the content of the anatomy course (3) (skull, brain, nerves) had the highest level of adaptation (82.9%) and statistics course had the least (13.3%) with the job requirements.Furthermore, associate degree graduates mentioned that among the main courses, the content of radiographic methods course 1 and 2 had the highest adaptation (100%) and the content of Hospital Internship 1 (4.2%) had the least adaptation. From the perspective of the experts the content of radiographic methods course (2 and 3) had the highest adaptation (97.1%) and the content of medical ultrasound course had the least (20%) adaptation to the job requirements.In addition, there was no difference in basic courses from the viewpoints of associate degree graduates and experts, however, there was a significant difference in the specialized courses (p Conclusion: Regarding the results of the present study, the content of educational courses of radiation technology field is not thoroughly adapted to the job requirements of the students. Therefore, it is recommended to review and modify the curriculum in order to provide the job requirements.