Quality of Educational Services from the Viewpoint of Medical Students in three stages: Basic sciences, Externship and internship of Alborz University of Medical Sciences

Abstract Introduction: The SERVQUAL model is one of the most common models used for assessing the quality of educational services. The purpose of this study was to investigate the quality of educational services based on SERVQUAL model in viewpoint of medical students of Alborz University of Medical Sciences in three stages: basic sciences, externship and internship. Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional descriptive analytical study in which 332 medical students were enrolled in three stages: basic sciences, externship and internship randomly. The data gathered using a questionnaire of 25 questions which was designed based on the standardized SERVQUAL questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, paired t-test, independent t-test and one way ANOVA with Spss V.24.0. Result: The results showed that there was a significant difference between the expectations and perceptions of medic al students in all aspects and in total score and their expectations had not been met. The maximum gap was related to the assurance dimension and the lowest gap was related to the reliability dimension. The overall gap was also 1.50. In addition, students' expectations at different stages were different in all aspects except "tangible dimensions" and "total quality of services". But their perception was different in two dimensions of tangible and reliable. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the students are dissatisfied with the current condition in the university and there is a long way to accomplish the desired status and satisfaction of the students as the main customers of the university’s educational services, and in many cases there is a need to evaluate and improve the conditions. Keywords: Educational Service Quality, Medical Student, Internship, Externship