Strides in Development of Medical Education (Jul 2009)
Readiness of Iran Universities of Medical Sciences for Conducting Total Quality Management (TQM) according to Educational Managers Point of View
Abstract
Background & Objective : Total Quality Management (TQM) is a new approach to management which must be implemented gradually during some stages The first step is to create readiness for change conducting quality management is not possible before acquiring enough readiness This study was conducted to evaluate the readiness of Iran Universities of Medical Sciences for conducting Total Quality Management (TQM) according to educational managers point of view Methods : In this descriptive study the participants were all educational managers of 34 Universities of Medical Sciences including 314 vice chancellors for educational affairs heads of Medical Education Development Centers deans and provice chancellors for education Data was collected using a researchermade questionnaire containing 27 questions about 11 signs of readiness Results : The results of this study revealed that considering readiness for conducting Total Quality Management 9% of the universities were moderate (50 to 59% of the score) 79% were approximately good (60 to 69% of the score) and 12% were good (70 to 73% of the score ) The mean score for universities readiness was 645% Readiness for applying TQM philosophy in behavior had the highest score while readiness for allocating resources had the lowest score (78% and 4786% respectively) Conclusion : The results imply that the universities have had an improving trend and an appropriate atmosphere is ready for conducting Total Quality Management
