Students’ Expressed Items Related to Educational Services in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences-Based on SERVAQUAL Model

Abstract

Introduction: Quality is defined based on the recipient's request. Students are the main members of the higher educational system. The aim of this study was to investigate the items related to the quality of services from the students’ point. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in six faculties of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in 2015-2016. Five hundred and seven undergraduate students were enrolled by multi-stage random sampling method. The standard SERVQUAL questionnaire with 27 pairs of questions which evaluate the quality of educational servies, was distributed. SPSS version 24 was used for data analysis. Results: Overall, 303 individuals (60%) were female and another 60% were in basic science period. There was a negative gap in all items in all the faculties. The item related to "the appealing appearance of the employees" had the smallest gap (from -0.6 to -0.1). The greatest gaps were related to the following items: in the medical(-1.7±0.1) and health (-1.8±0.2) faculties, "preparing students for future jobs by providing necessary theoretical and practical trainings"; in the faculty of dentistry(-2.0±0.1), "staff flexibility in specific conditions"; in the faculties of pharmacy(-1.5±0.1) and nursing(-1.2±0.1) "room and environmental facilities"; in the faculty of paramedicine(-1.5±0.1), "possibility for students to comment on educational programs" and "appropriate time for conducting classes". Conclusion: Items with highest gaps were not similar among different faculties. Focusing on the identified items with the greatest negative gaps is highly recommended.