The Status of Medical Education Studies by Iranian Researchers Among the Educational Publications Indexed in Web of Science

Abstract

Introduction: Medical education is a broad field of study that, as a subset of educational research, examines inputs, processes and outputs associated with teaching and learning medical sciences. The purpose of this study was to investigate the status of medical education studies by Iranian researchers among the educational publications indexed in Web of Science from 1990 to 2015. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted using Co-Word analysis (a scientometrics method). The research population was comprised of all Iranian scientific outputs in the field of education, indexed in the Web of Science database between 1990 to 2015. Results: The review yielded a total of 2954 articles by 6643 authors. Three influential and prolific authors were affiliated with medical sciences universities. The words education, student, health, women, learning, knowledge, risk, medicine, quality, and school were the most widely used words among the concepts under study. Conclusion: With a remarkable growth in Iran, medical education has attracted the greatest part of educational research in recent years, such that the articles by the most influential and prolific authors, top journals and institutes related to the subject of education in Web of Science are in the medical and paramedical field