Designing an Accreditation Model for North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences with a Futuristic Approach

Abstract

Background: Accreditation process has notable effects on quality assurance in medical education and faculty development. This process determine if an institution meets or exceeds minimum standards of quality. At present, there is a lack of a standardized model of accreditation for medical University in Iran. Therefore, this study aimed to design an accreditation model for North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences with a futuristic approach. Methods: This was an exploratory sequential Mixed- methods study. The sample consisted of all vice chancellors, departments' managers, administrators and executive bodies of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences. In the qualitative phase, based on the purposeful sampling method, 10 in-depth semi-structured interviews were performed. After data saturation and identifying key concepts, the literature review was performed to elucidate the theoretical foundations of University Accreditation. In the second phase, based on purposeful sampling method, 259 participants were selected to complete the 75 questions using a researcher made questionnaire. 10 professors evaluated the face and content validity of the questionnaire. An exploratory analysis of content undertaken to identify the 12 main factors of accreditation model and a confirmatory factor analysis was employed to verify the construct validity. A Cronbach alpha coefficient of 0.825 indicated the excellent reliability of the questionnaire. SPSS software and AMOS version 24 were used to analyze the data. Results: Based on the results of exploratory factor analysis, 12 factors were identified as model's main factors, including 1) organizational management (5.21), 2) strategy formulation (4.90), 3) research (4.39), 4) mission and goals (4.13), 5) students (3.84), 6) Informatics' Technology (3.74), 7) Human Resources (3.57), 8) Planning (3.36), 9) Faculty Services (3.11), 10) educational facilities (2.86), 11) financial factors (2.48), and 12) education (2.26). The sum of factors' variance percentages showed that the predictive power of the model is equal to 58.47%. Conclusion: The model has been fitted to measure the accreditation of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences with a futuristic approach. Therefore, it is suggested that this model can be evaluated for accreditation of similar medical University.