Authors : Kazem Ashjaei , Mubashar Sheik , Mayeh Omar , Ehsanullah Tarin and Alireza Nikniaz
Abstract: PHC network in Iran is providing a national network to cover primary health care services in rural and urban areas. Other structures and level are supporting the network. This system has worked well and has contributed to improving the health status of the Iranian people but many challenges in health in Iranian context emphasizes on health system development. In recent years a health sector reform project implemented by support of the World Bank and one part of this project was establishment of a short course on health planning and management in order to enhance the competency of managerial skills of health managers. This study provides the implementation process and the result of evaluation of the courses on health management and planning for health sector reform in Iran. Team organization, materials translation and development, the course designing and training approaches, consultation, selection of the short course participants, the course implementation, the course evaluation were main activities to manage the program. Evaluation process had been covered different aspects of the course including: Evaluation of module contents, evaluation of trainers and evaluation of implementation of the course. The information demonstrates most of most of participants have been reached to the objectives of the short course. The average of knowledge among participants before the course from 6.93±2.04 has been improved significantly (p-Value: 0.0005) to 13.45±0.80 after the course. Also the course had been covered about 75% of participant’s expectations. Seventy five percent of participants recommend the course to other health mangers. The experience of capacity development through training described in this report is in contrast to usual practice, where candidates are sent abroad for training. The process involved the invitation of a foreign institute to work with a local institute to design and organise a training course that is tailored to the Iranian health system and then to prepare and train the local institute. The important point is that this training course has led participants to develop interventional project based on learning issues in the course and it is the impact of this course and it can be a good example to capacity building by training course. This approach can play the same roll and experiences in all training centres particularly in developing countries.
Kazem Ashjaei , Mubashar Sheik , Mayeh Omar , Ehsanullah Tarin and Alireza Nikniaz , 2008. Health Sector Reform and Capacity Development: An Iranian Experience of Training Centre on Health Management. Research Journal of Biological Sciences, 3: 372-377.