Designing a Conceptual Pattern of E- Learning for Iran’s Universities of Medical Sciences

Background: Over the last number of decades there has been a shift in medical education practice from traditional forms of teaching to other media which employ online, distance or electronic learning. E-learning can provide students with easier and more effective access to a wider variety and greater quantity of information. Objectives: The present study aimed to design a conceptual pattern of e- learning for Iran’s universities of Medical Sciences. Methods: This study was applied in terms of objective and qualitative in terms of data collection. The population of the study was the e-learning experts and faculty members of universities who sampled purposefully, after 30 interviews, saturation was achieved. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to interview. The qualitative data was analyzed using three- stage codings. Results: the electronic learning pattern of Iran’s universities of Medical Sciences was categorized in the following dimensions, including: "academic dimension" including components of synergogy and instructional design, human resources, infrastructure, management, organization, financial resources, ethics & culture, support, monitoring & coordination, and legal factor; The "spatial planning regions dimension" includes the components of the educational activities, research and information technology- related activities; the "national-macro dimension" includes the government’s structural and managerial supports, the government’s cultural and social supports, the government’s economic supports, the government’s scientific and technical supports, supports from the higher medical education, and supports from the private sector; the "regional – international dimension" including scientific and educational interactions, cultural and social interactions, political, and economic interactions. Conclusions: This study suggested that policy-makers, top managers of higher medical education, and those in charge of e-learning exploit the pattern proposed in this study for developing policies and programs for creating/developing e-learning centers, and sufficiently address the dimensions, categories, and indicators mentioned here, so that the long-term effects of operationalizing each category of the pattern can be demonstrated more optimally and quickly. In this way, costs can be reduced, repeat work can be avoided (especially in the face of environmental crises), and Iranian universities can progress in line with world universities and thereby take a big step towards the successful implementation of e-learning in Iran.