Role models play a crucial role in determining the professional development of medical trainees. The purpose of this study was to gain in-depth understanding of the outstanding qualities of successful role models. In this qualitative-descriptive study, data were collected through conducting interviews, and the inductive content analysis was performed. The study was done at the school of medicine of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Twenty-five medical students, medical graduates, and faculty members participated in 25 interviews from April to December 2019. The participants were recruited via purposive sampling. five categories and 13 subcategories were extracted from the data. The results of this study illustrated five crucial qualities of a good clinical role model including an excellent character, effective coach and mentor, inspiring medical leader, expert clinical teacher, and a professional physician. Our results also highlighted the lasting effects of positive role modeling of clinical teachers on medical trainees' professional careers. Another category in the present study was connected to future consequences of being a role model in a clinical setting. The result of this study illustrated crucial qualities of a good medical role model. This result can assist the leaders to engage with medical educators to better understand the process of role modeling and design the best plan for development of role modeling in medical education.

Background. The lack of attention of nursing professors to students learning styles can cause academic failure. The results of studies on the relationship between students learning style and academic achievement are contradictory. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the relationship between VARK learning styles and academic performance among virtual nursing students. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 237 virtual nursing students were enrolled by the convenience sampling method. The VARK learning styles questionnaire was used for data collection. The basis for determining academic performance was the grade point average(s) (GPA) of the previous semester(s). Students were divided into two groups based on their GPA, including strong (GPA15) and weak (GPA14.99) groups. Results. In both strong and weak groups, most of the subjects were unimodal (with a frequency of 92.9 and 78.5, respectively), and the rest were multimodal. The most common learning styles in strong and weak students were kinesthetic (57.1) and auditory (37.2), respectively. The results of chi-square test did not show statistically significant differences between learning styles and academic performance of strong and weak students. Conclusion. There was no significant relationship between the dominant learning styles and academic performance of strong and weak students. However, nursing professors need to adapt their teaching methods to the students learning styles. More studies are recommended to shed more light on this area of research.

The increasing growth of technology affects all aspects of life, including the system of education, and requires the implementation of a new education system. Since Electronic-learning (E-L) is a new and mutated form of education in Iran, its professional functions approach is different from that of traditional education. The present article aims to explain the concept and dimensions of professional functions in this field. Through a qualitative study, method and data source triangulation were used. To do so, the data sources were the professors, scholars, students, and graduates of this educational system in the field of medical sciences. To triangulate the methods, in-depth semi-structured interviews as well as focus groups, note-taking and reminders were used. The purposeful sampling consisted of 10 professors and scholars. Fifteen students and graduates participated in the four-session focus group discussions purposeful, and the sample consisted of 10 professors and scholars as well as seven students and graduates, and a total of 15 students and graduates were willing to participate in the focus group discussions. Inductive content analysis was used for the analysis of data. Three themes arose from the study as follows: E-learning prerequisites, E-Leaning enabling factors, and E-Learning obstacles. Each of the themes is explained along with the relevant categories and subcategories. Discovering the dimensions and elements affecting professional functions in the E-Lsystem of medical sciences, this study provided documented meanings and dimensions of this phenomenon beyond the conventional sense. These dimensions can have direct or indirect impacts on professional functions in this field.

Purpose: It is essential to adjust the responsibilities and function of medical education offices (MEOs) in regard to the current societal requirements. Therefore, it is a good idea to learn lessons from the experiences about the establishment and function of these offices around the world. The aim of the present study was to carry out a comparative study to investigate the function and structure of MEOs at some of the medical universities from America, Europe, and Asia. Subjects and Methods: This is a comparative, descriptive study that was conducted in 2015. Eleven offices around the world (in America, Europe, and Asia) were selected for the study. Expert group discussion and literature review were used in order to select research sample. The data were gathered using self-constructed checklists. Content and face validity of the checklist was assessed by gathering feedback from experts. The Kappa coefficient was used to determine the inter-rater reliability. Results: All the 11 offices in our study (100%) dealt with the issues of faculty development and research and scholarship activities. Only one out of the 11 offices (27%) dealt with the issues of society and patient education. Five out of the 11 offices (36%) dealt with the continuing medical education and continuing professional development. Consultation services are provided at seven of the 11 offices (64%). Conclusions: This study revealed both commonalities and differences in the function and structure of MEO among the 11 offices we examined. Based on this study, effective goals and strategies for MEO can be recommended.

The scientific community is currently grappling with the “reproducibility crisis,” a phenomenon characterized by a significant loss of validity in research outcomes and a subsequent decline in public and scientific confidence. This crisis is evident in the high rate of studies, particularly within medicine and the humanities that fail replication tests and exhibit poor generalizability. This study aimed to specifically examine the issues of reproducibility in medical education research in Iran and propose effective solutions to address this challenge. This investigation employed a qualitative methodology, utilizing conventional content analysis. Data were collected through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a carefully selected group of 24 medical science professors. Interviewing continued until data saturation was achieved, with each session lasting between 60 and 90 min. The analysis was systematically performed using the established Graneheim and Lundman’s framework. The analysis led to the identification of three themes: factors contributing to the reproducibility crisis, its consequences, and potential solutions. These themes were further divided into eight categories. Contributing factors encompassed research methodology, various forms of bias, and contextual elements. The consequences were primarily reflected in two domains—scientific progress and decision-making in educational contexts. In contrast, proposed solutions centered on enhancing methodological rigor and reinforcing a culture of accountability and oversight in research practice. According to the findings, improving the quality and credibility of research in medical education requires a comprehensive strategy built upon three key pillars: advancing researchers’ methodological competence, institutionalizing ethical and transparent research practices, and strengthening systems of evaluation and accountability. The effective implementation of initiatives such as the development of clear research guidelines, organization of training and capacity-building workshops, and promotion of robust inter-institutional collaboration can play a vital role in enhancing the quality, reliability, and trustworthiness of medical education research in Iran

Background: As a physiological event, menopause is an important milestone in women's lives. Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of this stage of women's lives on their quality of life.The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of education about physical activity via social networks on the quality of life of menopausal women. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted at Khormoj, Southwest of Iran, in 2018 on 54 menopausal women (27 experimental group (EG) and 27 control group (CG)). For the EG, a WhatsApp group was created and, every week, three educational written messages, clips, or pamphlets about physical activity and its importance during menopause were sent for 10 weeks. The study outcome (quality of life) was measured via Menopause-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MENQOL) at the onset and one month after the intervention. Data were analyzed through SPSS 19, using independent and paired T-tests. Results: One month post-intervention, there was a significant difference between the EG and CG groups in the total quality of life, and vasomotor, physical and sexual dimensions compared to the CG group (p <0.05). Between the baseline and one month post-intervention, a greater increase in quality of life was observed in the EG than in the CG, giving a mean difference of -10.52 (p <0.0001). Conclusion: The present study showed that holding an educational program using the WhatsApp social network enhanced quality of life of menopausal women. Introduction Throughout their lives, women experience several stages including puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, and menopause. Reaching any of these stages and passing through them will encounter women with situations and sometimes crises that may affect different aspects of their lives (1). Meanwhile, as a physiological event, menopause is an important milestone in women's lives; according to the definition by the World Health Organization, it refers to the cessation of menstruation for 12 months, following the loss of ovarian follicular activity (2). Various studies carried out in Iran and in the world have shown that the age of menopause could potentially depend on a variety of factors including race, genetic characteristics, socioeconomic status, fertility status, physical activity, nutrition, sexual behaviors, and diseases (3). The mean age of menopause has been estimated 50-52 years. In Iran, the mean age of menopause is 51 years (4-6). Following the incidence of menopause, changes in the hormonal, physical and metabolic processes of the woman’s body would lead to many physical, psychological, and social disorders including hot flash, sweating, palpitation, sleep disorder, irritability, lethargy, depression, amnesia, decreased eroticism, painful intercourse, and urinary symptoms (7-10). Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of this stage of women's lives on their quality of life. The results of previous studies indicated that menopause women were 3.5 times more likely to be at risk of mental disorders. They were also 5.7 and 3.2 times more likely to be at risk of physical impairment and sexual dysfunction, respectively. According to these studies, menopause could reduce the quality of a person's life regardless of the factors such as age and other demographic variables (11-14). Therefore, it seems important and inevitable to find some ways to prevent the minimization of the quality of life and to lower the symptoms and complications in menopause women to the possible extent. It seems that using non-medical methods, such as changing and improving lifestyle, can be useful for minimization of the symptoms and complications of this critical period. One of the appropriate health behaviors is to have mobility and do regular physical activities. Regular physical activity might increase the individual's ability to do his/her tasks and to feel healthy, empowered, and self-confident (15, 16). Doing regular physical activity would reduce blood glucose and blood pressure, stimulate the increase of catecholamins as well as adrenaline and noradrenaline, increase muscle strength, increase aerobic and cardiovascular endurance, and increase balance and coordination (17,18). Social networking is built on the idea of the way should people know and interact with each other. It gives people the power to share making the world more open and connected [19]. Nowadays, social networking has a vital influence on our live as it helps a lot in every aspect of life such as political,, Economic, and educational field s. Flexibility, convenience and accessibility have a vital influence on the use of social networking in education (20). The phenomenon of social media has become part of Internet culture, and published literature describing social media interventions for chronic disease management are becoming more prevalent (21). In recent years, instant messaging applications, which can be identified as mobile-based social networks, have started to become popular. Though there are a lot of instant messaging applications that can operate on mobile devices, it is seen that WhatsApp application is one of the most favored mobile-based applications (22). Ebrahimi et al. in 2017 indicated a positive role for using WhatsApp software to promote lifestyle, thus improving the level of health of women under study (23). Also, Estaji et al. conducted a study in 2016 using cellular text messaging that led to self-care promotion in hemodialysis patients under study(24). Mirghafurvand et al. conducted a study entitled “the influence of aerobic exercise program on the quality of life of pre-menopause and menopause women: a randomized, controlled clinical trial” and found that moderate aerobic exercise was effective in improving the quality of life of pre-menopause and menopause women (25). Given the influence of menopause on women's quality of life and the fact that itis considered as an indicator for...