Internal Assessment of the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences (2014)

Introduction: Higher education quality assurance is made possible through assessment of education processes. Internal assessment is determined by favorable feedback, indicating how much the implemented programs have been successful. To evaluate the academic-research validity of the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering and to apply it in the short-term and long-term planning, an internal assessment based on the defined criteria in medical education system was performed.

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, the objectives, indicators, criteria and assessment factors were determined by the assessment committee. Questionnaires were designed for five groups, including the head of the department, faculty members, students, graduates and employers. Scoring was carried out by a three-point scale, including desirable, relatively desirable and undesirable. Data were analyzed by MATLAB software (version 7.1) using graphs and tables.

Results: The quality of the department was evaluated to be desirable (2.34±0.53). According to the results, the most desirable factor was educational equipment and facilities (2.5±0.57), and the least desirable one was found to be training courses and curriculum (1.67±0.58).

Conclusion: The findings indicated that training courses and curriculum did not have a desirable status; therefore, training courses and appropriate curriculum are suggested to be designed based on the needs of students and society as well as educational facilities.