Internal Medicine Residency Training in Iran: Specifications and Differences

Background: Internal Medicine is one of the earliest medical specialties in Iran and thousands of internists have been graduated in this field of medicine from Iranian universities since 1951. In this study, the characteristics of the training program in this field, job duties and income were evaluated and compared with other countries.
Methods: Using the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education directive for internal medicine residency training program, the features program, compulsory work hours, income and residency training period were extracted and compared with the rest of the world. Selection of other countries was depended upon data availability.
Results: In Iran, the annual capacity for resident admission in internal medicine is about 280 people at 34 universities in the country. Medical doctors can apply for this residency after achieving adequate scores in the Iranian central exam for residency. The training curriculum of internal medicine is devised uniformly for all universities by Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education and is consisted of a 4 year training of gastroenterology, endocrinology, nephrology, pulmonary, hematology and rheumatology plus cardiology, neurology, intensive care, poisonings , emergency medicine, radiology and dermatology in hospital departments and continuity clinics. Residency training period in Iran is similar to Turkey and Canada and is lower than most European countries. Weekly working hours in an average has been determined to be 83.75 h that is higher than European countries, Canada and the USA. Four to eight years of medical service in underserved areas have been assigned for Iranian graduates before receiving certification for working in larger cities.
Conclusion: Residency training in in each country is affected by different factors such as economic status, work force and distribution of facilities. Training of residents with more knowledge and skills that did not bear remarkable pressure during their study period and thus do not feel emotional exhaustion is a challenging goal for policy makers in medical education.