Characteristics of Professional Ethics in the Health Education System of Northwestern Medical Universities: A Qualitative Study

Background: This study aimed to identify the components of professional ethics in health education offered by the northwestern universities of medical sciences in Iran.
Methods: This qualitative study was conducted based on semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 43 experts in northwestern medical universities. Purposeful and theoretical sampling method was adopted to select the samples. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.
Results: Based on the semantic commonalities, 48 concepts were formed and categorized into six ethical components for implementers of the health education system under the titles of responsibility to the general public, responsibility to the profession, responsibility to employers, responsibility for providing education health, responsibility for performing research and evaluation, and responsibility for making professional preparation.
Conclusion: The Vice Chancellor for Health of Medical Universities was in charge of providing, maintaining, and promoting the health of the community, moving in this direction by planning, organizing, evaluating, and providing health services, as wll as using innovative and creative methods. Improving the health of the covered community was one of the main objectives of this important unit in the community. The components of the ethical model adopted by the country’s health education system and health department of the northwestern medical universities included loyalty, responsibility, competitiveness, honesty, respect for others, respect for social values and norms, justice and fairness, empathy with others, liquidity, decisiveness, trust, cross-sectoral cooperation, observance of order, positive attitude, and commitment.