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Volume 18, Issue 4 (2025)
J Med Edu Dev 2025, 18(4): 1-3 |
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Amini K. A roadmap for transforming medical education. J Med Edu Dev 2025; 18 (4) :1-3
URL: http://edujournal.zums.ac.ir/article-1-2644-en.html
URL: http://edujournal.zums.ac.ir/article-1-2644-en.html
Professor of Nursing Education, Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Medical Education Development , korosh@zums.ac.ir
Keywords: medical education transformation, educational resilience, artificial intelligence, social justice, curriculum innovation
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Medical education stands at an unprecedented historical turning point. This transition is not just about relying on new technologies. It needs us to rethink basic ideas about quality, fairness, and social responsibility. The current issue of the "Medical Education Development" journal brings together a collection of important research studies that paint a multi-sided picture of this complex shift. On one hand, this picture lights up with the transformative gifts of artificial intelligence and simulation [1, 2]. On the other hand, it darkens with deep shadows cast by the gap between theory and practice [3] and the challenges of carrying out big strategies in educational settings [4]. This editorial aims not only to introduce the articles but also to weave them together into a unified roadmap for transformation.
New horizons
Transformation without a solid theoretical framework leads to confusion. The structured review "Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Improving Medical Education Quality" clearly shows how this technology can affect all eight dimensions of education, from teachers and teaching-learning processes to strategic missions [1]. This study reminds us that artificial intelligence is not just a tool—it is a "transformative ecosystem." Alongside this, the review "Advances in Simulation-Based Assessments" emphasizes that assessment is not merely the endpoint of learning. Instead, it is itself a rich and complex teaching-learning process [2]. Together, these two studies create a launching pad for future leaps forward.
Implementation challenges
In the middle of the distance between transformative ideals and real-world implementation, two deep qualitative studies have shown light. The study "Barriers to Using Thesis Findings" uncovers a systemic crisis [3].
This research shows that the "research-action" loop doesn't close simply by producing papers. It needs structural reforms at management, professional, and policy levels.
At another level, the study "Opportunities and Challenges of Educational Accreditation in Teaching Hospitals" examines one of the most critical tools for ensuring quality [4]. Its findings stress the necessity of localization, resource provision, and strengthening within-organization cooperation for this process to be effective. These two articles carry a clear message together: transformation needs "process re-engineering."
The centrality of justice in transformation
Sustainable transformation is one that places fairness and ethics at its center. The short yet highly practical report "Developing a Curriculum Bias Audit Tool" presents a practical innovation for making justice a regular part of education [5]. This tool helps teachers and curriculum planners identify and remove hidden biases to build a more inclusive learning environment for all students, regardless of their background, gender, or abilities. This issue becomes doubly important when we consider the findings of the study "Relationship Between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Clinical Decision-Making," which shows that the psycho-social atmosphere of the classroom and clinical setting can directly affect students' future professional judgment [6].
Empowering tomorrow's specialists
No transformation is possible without empowering the people inside the system.
A collection of articles in this issue confirms this by investigating the psycho-social dimensions of education.
The study "The Effect of Instructors' Caring Behavior on Nursing Students' Professional Self-Concept" clearly shows that "how a teacher is" matters as much as "what a teacher knows" [7]. This finding connects with the study "The Predictive Role of Spiritual Well-Being and Emotional Intelligence in Spiritual Care Competence," which stresses the necessity of nurturing students' inner dimensions to provide comprehensive and humane care [8]. In another dimension, the study "Psychological Factors Affecting Self-Regulated Learning," by using the HAPA theoretical framework, offers an evidence-based roadmap for strengthening one of the most critical lifelong learning skills [9].
Transformation made real
Finally, two studies in this issue represent the concrete embodiment of transformation in action. The quasi-experimental study "The Effect of Blended Learning on Cultural Competence and Empathy" shows how intelligent course design can develop complex cross-cultural competencies in nursing students [9]. Also, the pilot study "Flipped Classroom and Case-Based Learning Based on the PERMA Model" takes one step further and displays the merging of educational innovation with advancing the psychological well-being of medical students [10].
These two research studies prove that educational innovation succeeds when it focuses on both "learning" and the "learner" at the same time.
Conclusion
Bringing together the articles in this issue leads us toward one guiding concept: "educational resilience."
For real transformation, medical education needs to build an ecosystem where advanced technologies [1, 2] serve human goals [6, 7], where effective innovations [9, 10] and ethics [5], and where implementation challenges [3, 4] are overcome by strengthening individual skills [8] and structural reforms. We hope the articles in this issue will be seen not as separate pieces but as parts of an interconnected puzzle that the medical education community can notice and that will spark action and constructive dialogue along this path.
New horizons
Transformation without a solid theoretical framework leads to confusion. The structured review "Applications of Artificial Intelligence in Improving Medical Education Quality" clearly shows how this technology can affect all eight dimensions of education, from teachers and teaching-learning processes to strategic missions [1]. This study reminds us that artificial intelligence is not just a tool—it is a "transformative ecosystem." Alongside this, the review "Advances in Simulation-Based Assessments" emphasizes that assessment is not merely the endpoint of learning. Instead, it is itself a rich and complex teaching-learning process [2]. Together, these two studies create a launching pad for future leaps forward.
Implementation challenges
In the middle of the distance between transformative ideals and real-world implementation, two deep qualitative studies have shown light. The study "Barriers to Using Thesis Findings" uncovers a systemic crisis [3].
This research shows that the "research-action" loop doesn't close simply by producing papers. It needs structural reforms at management, professional, and policy levels.
At another level, the study "Opportunities and Challenges of Educational Accreditation in Teaching Hospitals" examines one of the most critical tools for ensuring quality [4]. Its findings stress the necessity of localization, resource provision, and strengthening within-organization cooperation for this process to be effective. These two articles carry a clear message together: transformation needs "process re-engineering."
The centrality of justice in transformation
Sustainable transformation is one that places fairness and ethics at its center. The short yet highly practical report "Developing a Curriculum Bias Audit Tool" presents a practical innovation for making justice a regular part of education [5]. This tool helps teachers and curriculum planners identify and remove hidden biases to build a more inclusive learning environment for all students, regardless of their background, gender, or abilities. This issue becomes doubly important when we consider the findings of the study "Relationship Between Fear of Negative Evaluation and Clinical Decision-Making," which shows that the psycho-social atmosphere of the classroom and clinical setting can directly affect students' future professional judgment [6].
Empowering tomorrow's specialists
No transformation is possible without empowering the people inside the system.
A collection of articles in this issue confirms this by investigating the psycho-social dimensions of education.
The study "The Effect of Instructors' Caring Behavior on Nursing Students' Professional Self-Concept" clearly shows that "how a teacher is" matters as much as "what a teacher knows" [7]. This finding connects with the study "The Predictive Role of Spiritual Well-Being and Emotional Intelligence in Spiritual Care Competence," which stresses the necessity of nurturing students' inner dimensions to provide comprehensive and humane care [8]. In another dimension, the study "Psychological Factors Affecting Self-Regulated Learning," by using the HAPA theoretical framework, offers an evidence-based roadmap for strengthening one of the most critical lifelong learning skills [9].
Transformation made real
Finally, two studies in this issue represent the concrete embodiment of transformation in action. The quasi-experimental study "The Effect of Blended Learning on Cultural Competence and Empathy" shows how intelligent course design can develop complex cross-cultural competencies in nursing students [9]. Also, the pilot study "Flipped Classroom and Case-Based Learning Based on the PERMA Model" takes one step further and displays the merging of educational innovation with advancing the psychological well-being of medical students [10].
These two research studies prove that educational innovation succeeds when it focuses on both "learning" and the "learner" at the same time.
Conclusion
Bringing together the articles in this issue leads us toward one guiding concept: "educational resilience."
For real transformation, medical education needs to build an ecosystem where advanced technologies [1, 2] serve human goals [6, 7], where effective innovations [9, 10] and ethics [5], and where implementation challenges [3, 4] are overcome by strengthening individual skills [8] and structural reforms. We hope the articles in this issue will be seen not as separate pieces but as parts of an interconnected puzzle that the medical education community can notice and that will spark action and constructive dialogue along this path.
Article Type : Editorial |
Subject:
Medical Education
Received: 2025/11/19 | Accepted: 2025/11/19 | Published: 2025/11/19
Received: 2025/11/19 | Accepted: 2025/11/19 | Published: 2025/11/19
References
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9. Beiranvand Sh. The Effects of Blended Learning on Nursing Students' Cultural Competence and Empathy: A Quasi-Experimental Study. (A-12-3277-1)
10. Srisingh K, Jeephet K. Student views of a flipped classroom and case-based learning session informed by the PERMA well-being model: a pilot study among fourth-year medical students. (A-12-3265-1)
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