Needs assessment for standardized educational program for Iranian Medical Students in crisis and disaster management

Introduction: Early education and training are mandatory toraise the knowledge and awareness of the healthcare staff. Iranis a disaster prone area with a high number of emergencies.This study aimed to assess the need for disaster and emergencymanagement education for Iranian medical students.Methods: Using two-round Delphi technique in 2017, 15 expertswithin the field of disaster and emergency management wereasked for their opinions concerning the education required forIranian medical students. Highly important educational domainsand their sub-domains selected with an agreement of above 70-80% were prioritized by AHP technique.Results: Of 41 identified and prioritized educational subjects,four main groups were obtained: 1) crisis and disaster primaryconcepts, 2) disease control skills, 3) management skills, and4) medical care skills. The medical care skills had the highestpriority (with a weight of 0.546), compared to other areas afterthe final analysis.Conclusion: Different areas of competency are needed to raiseawareness and preparedness in medical students in combatingcrisis and disasters. We propose a curriculum for Iranian medicalstudents and suggest it to be used for other professionals, who areinvolved in the process of disaster management.Keywords: Disasters, Crisis, Medical students, Education, Interdisciplinary, Awareness