Evaluation of PhD Curriculum in Health Information Management: A Need for Revision

Objective: Identifying the strengths and weaknesses of curriculums and updating them in accordance with the future needs of students and the qualifications corresponding to their job positions is of particular importance. This study aims to identify the shortcomings of the current curriculum of Health Information Management for PhD students in Iran. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in 2021. The study population included all professors in the department of health information technology & management and the department of medical informatics and all PhD students and graduates in health information management from medical universities in Iran who were selected for the study by a census sampling method. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire, by which the relevance and applicability of the courses and amount of required revision in the courses were evaluated. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 19. The answers to the open-ended questions were analyzed using the qualitative content analysis approach. Results: Out of 67 participants, 61.1% were faculty members. In terms of relevance, the courses “Clinical Governance Information Systems” and “Health Information Economy”, and in terms of applicability, the courses “Clinical Governance Information Systems”, “Health Information Economy”, and “Methods for Improving and Managing Information Quality” were identified as the courses required modifications. Regarding the amount of required revision, most of the courses, except for “Advanced Statistical Methods”, “Thesis”, “Research Seminar” and “Design and Development of Health Information Systems No. 1”, needed serious revision. Conclusion: It seems necessary to modify the curriculum of health information management for PhD students in Iran to improve the quality of education in this filed and respond to the needs of graduates based on the changes in the health field toward digital health and health information technologies.