About:

The National agency for Strategic Research in Medical Education (NASR) was established in 2016 following the Research Center Establishment Regulations approved in the 51st meeting of the Medical Universities Expansion Council (12 April 1992), and the regulations approved in the 148th meeting of the Joint Council of Commissions 1 and 2 of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution (10 April 1990). All the regulations of this center have been approved by the Board of Trustees, the Research Council, and the NASR Supreme Council. NASR pursues the following missions: policy-making, planning, developing, approving, implementing, and monitoring health higher education strategic research to lay the ground for research, development, and management of knowledge in medical education and provides scientific solutions to promote the medical sciences education system by supporting innovative ideas, discovering medical education potentials, identifying research priorities in medical education, and managing medical education statistics and information. This agency issued its first call in early 2017 and asked universities of medical sciences to send their developmental and promotional proposals. The first meeting of NASR specialized committees was held in 2017 to determine the research priorities of the second call. In November 2017, NASR was inaugurated with the presence of then-Minister of Health and Medical Education (MoHME). The second meeting of NASR specialized committees was held in January 2018 to determine the priorities of the third call. The third NASR call was issued in April 2018, and in July, a letter of agreement was drawn up between NASR and the MoHME Education Development Center (EDC) to support the innovative educational projects of universities of medical sciences. In September, the AMEE Congress was virtually held by NASR support in 10 designated macro-regions. In the second half of this year, a meeting was held with representatives of areas to determine the research priorities in education related to the specific missions of each region. A grant was also established to support projects relevant to these regions’ specific missions. The first call for innovative educational projects was issued in January 2018. In March, Dr. Ali Akbar Haghdoost was appointed as the head of NASR. The fourth call was issued in 2019, with an emphasis on the research needs and priorities of the Deputy for Education (MoHME). The second call for supporting projects relevant to the specific missions of regions was issued in November, and the fifth call of NASR was issued in January 2020. In February, a letter of collaboration was drafted between NASR and the Scientific Associations Assembly. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 in Iran and changes in methods of instruction, NASR established a grant for COVID-19 in 2020. In the same year, the Scientific Supremacy Project began at universities of medical sciences, and the scientific supremacy working groups of the MoHME and the Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences held a meeting. The first call for scientific associations was issued in July 2020 to operationalize the agreement between NASR and these associations. NASR also held a meeting with the Vice-Chancellor of The Planning and Budget Organization to introduce its activities to said organization. In February and March of 2021, two calls were issued for supporting innovative educational proposals and research in education proposals relevant to the domains mentioned in the Green Book of Scientific Supremacy of Universities of Medical Sciences. In the spring and summer of 2021, a Memorandum of Understanding was made between NASR and the Iranian Institute of Philosophy. In an attempt to achieve scientific supremacy, a call for differentiating the missions was issued to develop strategic plans for selected fields of the medical universities. In December 2021, NASR made a Memorandum of Understanding on scientific supremacy with universities of medical sciences and a letter of collaboration with the Traditional Medicine Office. The sixth thematically orientated call and a call for supporting dentistry education and development of simulators in medical sciences were also issued later that year. In February2022, Dr. Ehsan Sharifipour was appointed as the acting head of NASR.