Internal evaluation in the faculties affiliated to zanjan university of medical sciences: quality assurance of medical science education based on institutional accreditation

Institutional accreditation is a type of quality assurance in medical education to achieve quality standards in higher education institutions. The present study aimed at internal evaluation of the faculties affiliated to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences based on the institutional accreditation standards.

This study was conducted based on a descriptive cross-sectional design. The research samples included all the faculties affiliated to Zanjan University of Medical Sciences. This study was performed based on the national institutional accreditation standards (IA), including 66 standards and 351 measures in eight evaluation domains, approved by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. In order to conduct an internal evaluation based on institutional accreditation standards, the experts in the fields of institutional accreditation were initially provided with the necessary training. Upon the collection of documents, the data was evaluated by the research group based on the accreditation standards. In the next step, to confirm the documents and complete the internal evaluation, a field visit was conducted to the educational and research facilities of the faculties based on the accreditation standards. Finally, the faculty officials and senior managers of Zanjan University of Medical Sciences were provided with feedback on the results of the internal evaluation in the two sections of mandatory and developmental standards.

As evidenced by the obtained results, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences showed significant improvement in the achievement of accreditation standards in field evaluations. The highest and lowest percentages of compliance with the standards were observed in the faculties of nursing-midwifery and health-paramedicine, respectively.

In order to reach an ideal level in all necessary standards and improve the quality of medical education, in addition to the provision of necessary infrastructure, managers, professors, and experts in the field of education need to be thoroughly familiar with institutional accreditation standards.