Cost analysis of educational courses of medical students in Iran

Estimating the cost of graduate courses can play an important role in deciding on the allocation of required resources. This study aimed to determine the cost of educational activities of graduate students in hospitals of medical universities in Iran. This study was performed in eight autonomous educational medical centers of Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. After identifying the cost topics, the required information was collected through a semi-structured interview with the officials and students. Then, the amount of use of the graduate students from the cost headings was determined. The results identified that Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students of microbiology with more than ۹۵۰ United States dollar (USD) and PhD students of medical education with about ۷ USD have created the highest and lowest costs, respectively. This study, for the first time, examined the educational costs of Iranian postgraduate students in the hospital. In conclusion, the results of this study indicated that the amount of the costs of different fields of graduate education in medical sciences is very different and it should be considered in the allocation of the resources.

Keywords:

Medical course , Economics of education , Postgraduate student