Quality Assessment of Educational Services for Residents in Teaching Hospitals of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, based on the SERVQUAL Model

Background & Objective: Quality assessment of educational services is one of the most important actions in line with an improvement in the services. If the qualitative dimension of services is not taken into account, we will observe significant academic failure and reduction in creativity among the learners. Therefore, one of the salient steps in improving the quality of educational services is quality assessment from the viewpoints of its users. The aim of the present study was to determine the quality of educational services from the viewpoints of residents based on the SERVQUAL model. Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, ۲۰۴ residents from the educational hospitals of Kerman,  Iran,  participated.  The  participants  were  selected  using  simple  random  sampling method. The data collection tool was the Evaluation of Educational Quality Questionnaire that evaluates  educational  quality  based  on  the  SERVQUAL  gap  analysis  method.  This  tool compares respondents’ perceptions and expectations of the quality of educational services in ۵ domains  (reliability,  responsibility,  confidence,  assurance,  empathy,  and  tangible  physical). Content validity of this questionnaire was approved by experts' opinions and its reliability was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha (r = ۰.۸۸). To analyze data, SPSS software was used for performing descriptive (mean, standard deviation) and analytical (independent t-test) tests. Results: The findings showed that there was a negative gap between residents' perceptions and expectations of the quality of educational services in all ۵ dimensions. The highest and lowest level  of  gap  was  related to the  tangible physical  (-۱.۵۰)  dimension  and the responsibility (-۰.۵۱) dimension, respectively. Conclusion: There is a negative gap between residents' perceptions and expectations in different dimensions of educational services quality based on the SERVQUAL model. In order to improve the quality of education, a review of educational infrastructures (environment and facilities) and education management seems necessary. This requires the efforts of relevant authorities toward the development and improvement of these infrastructures.