integrating student feedback: a comprehensive approach to quality improvement in medical education using efqm with an emphasis on enablers

Background & objective: evaluating the quality of educational services from the perspective of students—the primary stakeholders—is essential for enhancing university performance. this study aimed to assess the quality of educational services based on the european foundation for quality management (efqm) excellence model. materials & methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted from march to june 2023. the statistical population included all students of a medical sciences university, selected through stratified random sampling based on school affiliation. the data collection tool utilized was a standardized efqm questionnaire developed by the five criteria of the efqm model. the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed. data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including independent t-tests and anova. results: among 327 students, 58.4% were female. no significant differences were observed in the educational effectiveness components between male and female students. the comparison across schools indicated significant differences in the components of faculty, learning-teaching processes, student engagement, and leadership and management (p < 0.05). however, no significant difference was observed in the educational program component. semester 6 or lower students reported significantly higher scores (p < 0.05) for the faculty, learning-teaching process, and student engagement components than those in higher semesters. the overall quality of educational services was rated as moderate (mean = 3.4 ± 0.7 on a 5-point scale; moderate range: 2.5-3.9). conclusion: the quality of educational services was perceived as moderate from the students' perspective. to improve quality, it is recommended that university administrators focus on criteria with lower scores and implement targeted quality improvement programs.