Evaluating Educational Programs of Traditional Medicine Based on the Student's Viewpoints in Mashhad, Kerman, and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences, Iran

The evaluation of educational programs is the most important aspect of any educational system. If performed correctly, it will provide valuable information on designing and implementation of educational programs and a basis for the evaluation of educational practices.

This present study was performed in 2014 on 22 PhD students attending the Schools of Traditional Medicine of Mashhad, Kerman, and Shahid Beheshti Universities of Medical Sciences, Iran, in 2009-2013. The data collection tool consisted of a questionnaire containing open- and closed-ended questions. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire have been approved. The quantitative data obtained were analyzed and categorized using Microsoft Excel.

The general objectives of traditional pharmacy consist of mission, perspective, goals, and professional duties. Each course was evaluated from the view point of students. This showed that more than half of the students agreed on the overviews and details (general objective, prerequisites, content titles, student evaluation, and educational sources). The educational sources of some courses such as Iranian Traditional Medicine (foundations and principles) with 43.9%, Sanitation and Prevention Principles with 33%, and Identification of Raw Material and Production of Traditional Medicine with 36.8% obtained the less than half of the positive votes of students. Moreover, 42.1% of students believed that the courses of Identification of Raw Material, Production of Traditional Medicine, and Identification of Traditional Medicine Forms were not presented in accordance with the educational program.

The participants mostly approved the aims and overviews of this field of study each of its courses. The proposed recommendations show that the units and content of some courses, and their educational sources and priorities require revision and reformation. In general, due to being a new field, traditional medicine contains ambiguities which must be clarified through further evaluation and elimination of deficiencies observed in the current survey.