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Background: Former socialist countries have undergone a socio-economic transition in recent decades. New challenges for the healthcare system have arisen in the transition economy, leading to demands for better management and development of the health professions. However, few studies have explored the effects of this transition on health professions education. Thus, we investigated the effects of the socio-economic transition on the health professions education system in Mongolia, a transition economy country, and to identify changes in requirements. Methods: We used a multi-level perspective to explore the effects of the transition, including the input, process, and output levels of the health professions education system. The input level refers to planning and management, the process level refers to the actual delivery of educational services, and the output level refers to issues related to the health professionals, produced by the system. This study utilized a qualitative research design, including document review and interviews with local representatives. Content analysis and the constant comparative method were used for data analysis. Results: We explored tensions in the three levels of the health professions education system. First, medical schools attained academic authority for planning and management without proper regulation and financial support. The government sets tuition fees, which are the only financial resource of medical schools; thus, medical schools attempt to enroll more students in order to adapt to the market environment. Second, the quality of educational services varies across institutions due to the absence of a core curriculum and differences in the learning environment. After the transition, the number of private medical schools rapidly increased without quality control, while hospitals started their own specialized training programs. Third, health professionals are struggling to maintain their professional values and development in the market environment. Fixed salaries lead to a lack of motivation, and quality evaluation measures more likely reflect government control than quality improvement.Conclusions: Mongolia continues to face the consequences of the socio-economic transition. Medical schools’ lack of financial authority, the varying quality of educational services, and poor professional development are the major adverse effects. Finding external financial support, developing a core curriculum, and introducing performance-based payments are recommended.

Background Former socialist countries have undergone a socio-economic transition in recent decades. New challenges for the healthcare system have arisen in the transition economy, leading to demands for better management and development of the health professions. However, few studies have explored the effects of this transition on health professions education. Thus, we investigated the effects of the socio-economic transition on the health professions education system in Mongolia, a transition economy country, and to identify changes in requirements. Methods We used a multi-level perspective to explore the effects of the transition, including the input, process, and output levels of the health professions education system. The input level refers to planning and management, the process level refers to the actual delivery of educational services, and the output level refers to issues related to the health professionals, produced by the system. This study utilized a qualitative research design, including document review and interviews with local representatives. Content analysis and the constant comparative method were used for data analysis. Results We explored tensions in the three levels of the health professions education system. First, medical schools attained academic authority for planning and management without proper regulation and financial support. The government sets tuition fees, which are the only financial resource of medical schools; thus, medical schools attempt to enroll more students in order to adapt to the market environment. Second, the quality of educational services varies across institutions due to the absence of a core curriculum and differences in the learning environment. After the transition, the number of private medical schools rapidly increased without quality control, while hospitals started their own specialized training programs. Third, health professionals are struggling to maintain their professional values and development in the market environment. Fixed salaries lead to a lack of motivation, and quality evaluation measures more likely reflect government control than quality improvement. Conclusions Mongolia continues to face the consequences of the socio-economic transition. Medical schools’ lack of financial authority, the varying quality of educational services, and poor professional development are the major adverse effects. Finding external financial support, developing a core curriculum, and reforming a payment system are recommended.

Background Quality Nursing Care (QNC) is fundamental to the profession of nursing practice. Perception of QNC differ across the globe because of differences in social norms, cultural values and political ambiance and economy. This study aimed to develop a QNC instrument congruent with the Mongolian (QNCS-M) healthcare system and cultural values and societal norms. Methods Exploratory sequential mixed-method design was implemented to develop and assess performance of QNCS-M. First, we focused on developing the components of QNCS-M and their operational definitions. Second, we dedicated to ascertaining psychometric performance of QNCS-M. The field testing consisted of assessing the construct validity and internal consistency reliability. Correlation between QNCS-M and the criterion tool, Quality of Nursing Care Questionnaire-Registered Nurse was evaluated. Results The initial version of QNCS-M contained 66 items of which 7 (I-CVI < .78) were deleted after item-content validity assessment. The total-item correlation analysis yielded to exclusion of another 3 items (<.3). Additional 12 items were excluded after inter-item correlation (<.3, >.7). Results from Spearman rank-order correlation analysis of the remaining 44 items indicated relationship between social desirability and 6 items (r = −.09 to r = .11). These items were excluded to reduce the likelihood of potential information bias. A total of 38 items remained for exploratory factor analysis. Results from exploratory factor analysis yielded eigenvalues > 1.0 for the 9 domains. Three domains contained items fewer than 3. These domains and 2 items (factor loading <.4) were eliminated, yielding to 6 domains with 36-item. Results from internal consistency reliability yielded an overall Cronbach’s α = .92; the coefficient values for the 6 domains ranging between .72 and .85 and Pearson correlation for stability reliability yielded an acceptable (r = .82, P < .001). Conclusion Improving the quality of healthcare services delivered by nurses is a priority for the Mongolian government. The development of QNCS-M is a major stride in addressing this concern. The final version of QNCS-M which contains 36 items, loaded into 6 domains, was morphed to the specifics of the Mongolian healthcare systems and cultural values and societal norms. QNCS-M demonstrates a high level of content and construct validity with acceptable reliability.

Purpose Continuing professional development is essential for improving health care services, especially in developing countries. Most of the training programs in Mongolia were not based on a targeted needs assessment. Therefore, we aimed to apply a mixed methods design to assess the training needs of Mongolian health professions. Methods We conducted a needs assessment using a convergent parallel mixed methods design in two steps. The survey and interview questions were developed to identify priority areas, targeted trainees, and effective training methods. A survey on 60 respondents, 15 individual interviews, and a focus group interview with 14 participants were conducted in the first step. In the second step, 12 representatives of key stakeholders were invited to a second focus group interview. Results Current health policy areas, areas related to future national plans, and areas not currently receiving governmental or international support were suggested as the main priorities. The stakeholder suggested that trainees should be selected based on their professional experience and language level, as well as each hospital’s needs. Building teams including various professions, such as nurses, technicians, and biomedical engineers, was recommended as a way to exchange ideas with each other and to build teamwork for future collaboration. Conclusion Medical training needs are dynamic and complex; therefore, a deep understanding of the context and setting is necessary. In this study, we assessed the targeted training needs of Mongolian health professions through a mixed methods design, which could be an effective way to conduct needs assessments for training programs.