Comparing Medical Training Costs Internationally: A Systematic Review

Acquiring a thorough understanding of the expenses linked to the education of health sciences students is crucial for effective university planning, budgeting, and overall preparedness. This systematic review aimed to identify and compare the per capita costs associated with educating medical and other health science students internationally-particularly emphasizing the context of Iran.

A systematic review was conducted in 2023 according to the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. The search covered the period from January 1, 2000, to November 11, 2022, using MeSH and EMTREE terms. Databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, and Iranian databases were searched. Manual searches were performed using Google and Google Scholar.

The study retrieved 1336 publications from bibliometric databases and, following thorough screening, included 8 relevant articles from 5 countries (Australia, Iran, United States, Thailand, and Vietnam). An additional 17 relevant articles from Iranian databases were also included. Based on USD purchasing power parity (PPP) 2019, the results show that the mean per capita cost of training a medical student for 1 academic year in Iran is $61,493.86 (range, $28,102-$133,603; standard deviation, $35,476.03). In comparison, the cost of training a medical student for 1 year is $263,305 in the United States and $44,674 in Australia. In Thailand and Vietnam, a 6-year medical program costs is $284,058 and $69,323, respectively. Moreover, according to most studies, training students in other health sciences in Iran for 1 academic year generally costs ˂$20,000 (PPP 2019).

The study reveals that the costs associated with medical student education in Iran exceed that of most countries, second only to the United States. These findings highlight the importance of such data in improving the efficiency, sustainability, and informed resource allocation of global medical education programs for future planning and budgeting.