Analysis of M.D. Learning Environment Regarding Attention to Education Personal Development Competency

Background: One of the necessities of doctor of medicine (M.D.) curriculum is educating seven competencies, including personal development competency, which helps students acquire and use effective abilities in their personal and professional life, including self-knowledge, psychology of change, strategic and management principles, and informatics. Given the importance of this type of competency in performing professional roles by graduates, this study aimed to analyze the M.D. learning environment regarding attention to education personal development competency. Methods: This qualitative case study was performed in research environment of Mashhad School of Medicine and included 34 M.D. students, six faculty members (M.D. course), three medical education experts, four department managers, and two heads of university, selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected after 15 semi-structured interviews, two focus group discussions (FGD) and four observations, and review if documents. Notably, the process continued to reach data saturation. Moreover, the data obtained was managed in MAXQDA-10 software, and data analysis was performed by qualitative content analysis method based on Graneheim & Lundman’s six-stage model. Results: The collected data were summarized in sematic units and turned into 33 sub-themes by forming, comparing and systematically classifying 302 primary codes. Undervaluing personal development competency in some M.D. levels, eliminating competency-related courses in the current curriculum, excessive thickening of the curriculum with theoretical content, lack of a specific model for fostering competency, lack of using new technologies, improper content and strategies, cultural-social gap, environmental limitations, inefficient evaluation and the art of turning knowledge into practice were among the most important sub-themes obtained in the study. In the end, five themes (paradoxes of curriculum, learning experiences, balance in distribution, authentic evaluation and professors’ ability) were extracted in response to research questions. Conclusion: According to the results, the learning environment of school of medicine had unfavorable condition for education personal development competency. Therefore, our findings can be used to design proper learning environments to nurture this competency.