Effective Holding of Scientific Olympiads for Medical Sciences Students: a Qualitative Study

Introduction: Due to the importance of holding effective scientific Olympiads for medical sciences students, this study aimed to evaluate experts’ viewpoints in regard to their necessity, costs, achievements, barriers and solutions.

Methods: In this qualitative study, required data were collected using open-ended questions through self-development questionnaires, which were filled out by experts. Data were analyzed through content-analysis methods. To select participants, a purpose-based sampling method was applied up to the point of information saturation. Thus, this study was performed with 20 individuals.

Results: The main necessity and philosophy of holding Olympiads expressed by the experts were: promoting health sector performance, extension of interrelationships between universities, development of scientific competition and incensement of students’ creativity. The majority of participants believed that the achievements of holding these Olympiads are negligible versus their costs. The most important barriers were: absence of appropriate relationships between universities, lack of proper support for holding these Olympiads, the low motivation of professors, noninterested students and the shortage of resources and facilities. Furthermore, the most important solutions included: performance evaluation of previous Olympiads, increasing incentives and motivations as well as suitable planning.

Conclusion: According to experts’ viewpoints, although holding scientific Olympiads is necessary for medical students, during past years, the achievements of such Olympiads versus theirs costs seem negligible and there are lots of barriers in the path of achieving their goals and philosophy.