Content analysis of the official curriculum of undergraduate degree in Iran's medical sciences universities from the perspective of social health: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Social health is considered as an important part of good health both individually and socially. The purpose of this study was to examine the content of the official medical sciences curriculum in undergraduate degrees from a social health perspective. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative content analysis study was conducted in 2019 at the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences using a deductive approach based on Hsieh and Shannon's directed content analysis. For this purpose, official curricula in the fields of Public Health, Occupational Health, Environmental Health, Nursing, Midwifery, Nutrition Sciences, and Health Services Management were analyzed using MAXQDA 12. RESULTS: The results showed that a total of 136 codes related to the components of social health were identified in the topics of undergraduate medical sciences majors. Most to least relevant topics belonged to the fields of Public Health (61 codes), Midwifery (22 codes), Nursing (16 codes), Occupational Health (12 codes), Environmental Health and Nutrition Sciences (each 10 codes), and Health Services Management (5 codes), respectively. Among the components of social health, only the component related to access to insurance and health services was mentioned in all seven disciplines. However, the components of poverty and inequality were only included in three disciplines (Public Health, Nursing, Midwifery). CONCLUSION: Regarding insufficient focus on social health in curricula, revision of educational curricula is suggested from the perspective of social health, particularly in areas such as poverty and inequality, unemployment, population, violence, and gender discrimination.

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