Comparative Study: Curriculum of Undergraduate Medical Education in Iran and in a Selected Number of the World’s Renowned Medical Schools

Introduction: The present research compares curricula for undergraduate medical education(UME) in Iran and in selected medical schools in terms of general structure, program length, mission and objectives, content, number and type of study stages, and finally, the extent of implementing quality improvement strategies. Methods: This is a descriptive-comparative study on the important components of UME curricula in Iran and some renowned or innovative medical schools, selected purposefully from all continents. The study had two stages: first, finding medical schools offering high standard education from all continents second, identifying and studying the different aspects of curricula in those schools as well as Iranian medical schools’ curriculum, based on Ludvigsson’s indicators. Results: The results show that considering available standards in an effective educational curriculum (Ludvigsson’s indicators), medical schools of Australia, North America, Europe, Asia and Africa rank from the highest to lowest. The study reflects that UME curriculum in Iran does not fulfill the necessary standards. Conclusion: There is a great gap between the quality of UME curriculum of Iran and that of other universities in terms of implementing effective educational standards, which suggests that UME program in Iran needs to be revisited and revised.