Challenges of Family Physician Program in Urban Areas: A Qualitative Research.

Background: Family physicians play an essential role and act as a communicational bridge between people and the healthcare system in providing healthcare services efficiently and equitably. This study aimed at exploring the challenges of the family physician program in urban areas in Iran in 2015.

Methods: This research had a descriptive exploratory design with a qualitative content analysis approach.

Fasa University Medical School: a novel experience in medical education.

Introduction: In early 1970`s a combination of a shortage and misdistribution of health services and growing public dissatisfaction about the health care available, along with increasing expectations, has put great strain on the mind of the staff of the Department of Medicine Shiraz University School of Medicine. The purpose of this report is to give an account of what was originally planned and what has happened since the start of Fasa Medical School in April 1978.

Methods: This is a case report about an experience in medical education in Iran.

The Islamic Revolution of Iran and migration of physicians to the United States.

Following the Islamic Revolution of 1979 in Iran, the trend of migration of physicians from the country continued. The total number of Iranian physicians migrated to the United States (US) increased from 1625 before revolution in 1974, to 5045 in 2010, thirty years post-revolution. The percentage of medical graduates migrating to the US, in the same period dropped from 15% to 5%.

Effects of the Islamic Revolution in Iran on medical education: the Shiraz University School of Medicine.

Some consequences of the Islamic Revolution in Iran on medical education were studied utilizing the Shiraz University School of Medicine. Of the 173 full-time faculty employed in 1978, 108 (63 per cent) had left the university by the end of 1982, and 81 (47 per cent) had left the country, aggravating the chronic shortage of medical personnel in Iran. Steps taken by the Iranian authorities to counteract these trends have not proven effective.

Physician importation--a solution to developing countries' rural health care problems?

Developing countries almost universally suffer from severe health service shortages, particularly in rural areas. Manpower problems are the most critical aspect of the shortages. Iran has recently begun a massive program to increase physician supply in its rural areas by importation of physicians from India, Pakistan, and the Philippines.

Acceptance of auxiliary health worker in rural Iran.

A pilot project to train and deploy low-level rural health auxiliaries is being carried out in southern Iran. This first group of 16 village health workers (VHW) went to work in the initial 16 project villages early in 1974. The group consisted of 11 men and 5 women ranging in age from 15 to 45.

Factors related to drug abuse among Iranian university students.

Questions related to the use of narcotics were administered to 607 students attending four Iranian universities: Pahlavi University, the University of Tehran, Isfahan University, and Aryamehr University. Twenty-four percent of the students reported that they have used drugs at some time, although only 11% of the students have used drugs more than three times in their lives. Hashish was the most frequently used drug, having been used by 54% of the students who have used narcotics.

Folate levels among various populations in central Iran.

Serum folic acid levels (Lactobacillus casei assay) were determined in 467 subjects representing various socioeconomic classes from rural and urban central Iran. Of the subjects 170 were pregnant females in different trimesters. The mean serum folate levels of the various groups studied ranged from 7.

Physician migration to the U.S.--foreign aid for U.S. manpower.

Data were obtained from the American Medical Association on Iranian physicians practicing in the U.S., and from the Iranian Medical Registry on U.

Causes of physician migration: responses of Iranian physicians in the United States.

Each of the 2,270 Iranian physicians listed by the American Medical Association as residing in the United States in 1973 was sent a questionnaire in which he was asked whether or not he intended to return to Iran, his reasons for not returning if he did not intend to return and other questions concerning his history and present status. A total 760 questionnaires were returned. The results indicated that age, level of training, martial status, and previous practice in Iran were all related to intention to return, although whether or not the physician had returned to Iran on a visit was not an important factor.

The front line health worker: selection, training, and performance.

Iranian villagers with basic literacy were recruited, selected, trained, and deployed as Village Health Workers (VHWs) to rural areas of Iran. VHW clinical visit records and activities logs were analyzed to determine levels and nature of effort achieved in the field. Within six months of deployment, the number of patient visits to VHW treatment services constituted 53% of the target population.

Radiological changes in pica.

The significance of pica and geophagia as a public health problem is well known. The objective radiographic diagnosis of geophagia depends on the abnormal opacification of the bowel as an immediate manifestitation of the condition. The chance of detectability of geophagia is highest in the colon and can be improved by using low penetration films, particularly for smaller amounts of ingested clay.

Zinc deficiency occurring in females. Report of two cases.

The syndrome of dwarfism, hypogonadism, iron-deficiency anemia and geophagia, first reported in 1960 from Iran, was thought to be limited to males. In 1971-1972 two females with the same clinical features were observed over a 14-month period. The anemia responded rapidly to iron.

Combined zinc and iron compared with iron supplementation of diets of 6- to 12-year old village schoolchildren in southern Iran.

The effects of supplementation of the diets of 6- to 12-year-old children in a village near Shiraz in Iran with zinc plus iron or iron alone, together with the indispensable amino acids in the form of egg white protein, vitamins, minerals, and corn oil have been evaluated. Initially 48 of 59 children had zinc concentrations below the minimum found in well-nourished persons. Eight months of supplementation with zinc plus iron (20 mg daily of elemental zinc as carbonate and 20 mg ferrous iron as fumarate) failed to stimulate growth or bone development or to bring about an increase in plasma zinc concentrations.