Effective Teaching in a Medical Education Ph.D. Program: A Qualitative Study on the Perception of Faculty Members

Abstract

Since the ancient times when human beings started to teach and learn, effective teaching is a matter of attention. In this regard, considering effective teaching in graduate courses and programs is critical and there are key points that must be considered by the faculty members and educational institutes. The present study is an attempt to investigate the experiences of faculty members of medical education regarding effective teaching in the medical education Ph.D. program offered in Iran. In this qualitative research, the study participants were faculty members of two national public medical universities of Iran who taught at the medical education centralized Ph.D. program developed by Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and the gathered data were analyzed via conventional content analysis. The data analysis indicated five general categories including “the philosophy and characteristics of the Ph.D. program”, “concept of effective teaching in the Ph.D. program”, “facilitating factors of effective teaching and learning”, “inhibiting factors of effective teaching” and “An educational design appropriate for the Ph.D. program”. Based on the views of teachers of medical education, for effective teaching in this Ph.D. program there are diverse requirements such as familiarity with the philosophy, mission, vision, and characteristics of the program, facilitating and inhibiting factors of effective teaching and learning in the Ph.D. post-graduate program, and choosing an appropriate strategy to promote teaching and learning via the program.

Based on the findings of this study, to conduct faculty development teacher training programs, training of medical instructors is not only an absolute need but also is severely recommended.