Medical Education Research Priorities for Master’s Students in Sudan: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background: Believing research prioritization can increase the research value and augment advances in the scientific base of any profession, this study aimed to identify research priorities relevant for medical education in Sudan.
Methods: The study was designed to capture a qualitative exploration of multiple stakeholders’ opinions. Data were collected from two stakeholder groups: experts and students of medical education in Sudan. Semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups from 10 experts and 41 learners were incorporated. The categories and subcategories, derived from experts’ data inductively through constant comparison, enhanced the development of a coding framework. This framework was used deductively to analyze the beliefs and opinions of the learners leading to a list that exemplifies priorities for medical education research.
Results: A set of seven principal and three minor themes were identified, the principal themes were: Curriculum Content, Design, and Delivery; Faculty Development; Assessment Methods; Research; Accreditation, Evaluation, and Quality; Professionalism; and Student Selection and Support. Four themes were identified to justify participants’ selections: Quality education and patient care; Accreditation of schools; Curricula contextualization; and Documentation of success stories.
Conclusion: This instrumental research fulfilled its aim to mount a set of medical education research priorities grounded in collected perceptions with optimal stakeholder engagement. Importantly, there were many more similarities than differences between these findings and those from other countries which suggests that some topics are relevant across the international arena and one may propose the commencements of an international medical education agenda.

Keywords: medical education, master students, research priorities, priority setting, Sudan