{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nCOVID-19 disrupted clinical training, assessment, and student engagement in medical education worldwide. We aimed to identify the curriculum challenges faced by Iranian medical education during the pandemic and the modifications that stakeholders consider necessary for future public health emergencies.Methods\n\nIn this sequential exploratory mixed-methods study, a literature review and 14 semi-structured interviews informed a 39-item questionnaire, which was distributed online to students, trainees, and faculty of Iranian medical schools.Results\n\nThe survey yielded 1095 valid responses (mean age 29.8±5.3 years; 61.5% women) from 58 medical schools. The lowest-rated experience items concerned compensation for lost clinical exposure through simulation and virtual patients (1.59±0.90 on a 5-point scale), regular quizzes or short assignments to monitor learning (1.60±0.98), timely feedback on assignments (1.73±1.06), and valid alternatives for assessing practical skills (1.80±1.07), whereas personal access to the internet and equipment scored highest (3.57±1.07). Between-institution differences were statistically significant but small in five of seven domains (η²H=0.018-0.053). All nine forward-looking reform items were endorsed (3.92±1.03 to 4.42±0.71). The assessment domain showed poor reliability, and the seven-domain confirmatory model fitted inadequately.Conclusions\n\nDifficulty concentrated in the components of training that depend on physical presence and supervision. Recalled experience differed between institutions, although this design cannot attribute that variation to institutional characteristics. Endorsement of reform was near-uniform, but because the items were positively keyed, it indicates the direction of stakeholder priorities rather than their intensity or feasibility. The questionnaire domains served as a reporting framework rather than validated scales and require revision before reuse.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.",
    "Iranian Center of Neurological Research, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.",
    "School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.",
    "Department of Preventive and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.",
    "Department of Medical Education, Health Professions Education Research Center, Education Development Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.",
    "Center of Excellence for Global Health (CEGH), Department of Global Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.",
    "Department of Health Management, Policy and Economics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran.",
    "Health Equity Research Center (HERC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Tehran, Iran."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 5,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Farhang Rashidi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Mohammad Abed",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-6476-1605"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Alipasha Meysamie"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4
      ],
      "name": "Mahboobeh Khabaz Mafinejad",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9578-4172"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        5,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Amirhossein Takian"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a7tqfjnvb4s3q.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.2147/amep.s646794",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13685683",
  "id": "a7tqfjnvb4s3q",
  "issns": [
    "1179-7258"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910233",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "3304|Education during COVID-19 pandemic"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222504095",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13685683?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13685683",
  "pmid": "42910233",
  "published": "2026-10-17",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a7tqfjnvb4s3q.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:20:10Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42910233",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910233"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "journal-openalex:2739|Innovations in Medical Education",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "COVID-19 Curriculum Disruptions and Future Preparedness in Iranian Medical Education: A National Mixed-Methods Study.",
  "title_text": "COVID-19 Curriculum Disruptions and Future Preparedness in Iranian Medical Education: A National Mixed-Methods Study.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:20:10Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a7tqfjnvb4s3q",
  "venue": "Advances in medical education and practice",
  "versions": []
}