Evaluating a masters of medical education program: Attaining minimum quality standards?

Background: As more Masters of Medical Education programs (MMEPs) become available, the quality of these programs will be under increased scrutiny. Aims: We applied World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) quality standards in an internal evaluation process involving participants and faculty to determine: (i) if our MMEP met minimum quality standards (ii) if WFME standards provided a useful framework to evaluate minimum standards in our context and (iii) whether the program was perceived as developing future educational leaders. Methods: A cross-sectional researcher developed survey, interviews and secondary data analysis were utilized for data collection. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 16. Descriptive statistics were generated. Fisher's exact test determined statistically significant differences between groups. Qualitative data were analyzed using a framework analysis. Results: All students attending the MMEP 2007-2010 (n=67) and faculty (n=11) were invited to participate; 48% students and 91% faculty responded. Quantitative and qualitative results demonstrated positive perspectives regarding all three aspects of our enquiry. Nevertheless, needed improvements were identified in the areas of availability of human and physical resources, feedback and aspects of the research experience. Conclusions: Impact on quality of health professions education in the Kingdom and participant educational leadership development are particularly important social responsiveness features of the program. Refinement of the evaluation instrument and WFME standards to ensure clarity and relevance to local contexts as well as a future expected imperative to move beyond social responsiveness to social accountability in health professions education, are future challenges discussed.