Observance of ethical codes in selecting supervisor by postgraduate students

Abstract

Nowadays, with development of medical sciences, several ethical challenges have raised which make research more complicated. Observance of student's right in selecting interested research topic and the supervisor, in addition to its positive effect on the research process, will cause satisfaction and quality promotion in the educational system. To observe that issue, during a confidential survey of a number of postgraduate students in 2009, students were asked to confidentially describe any displeasure they might get during their study and research. The most important items included: imposing thesis by a supervisor without informing the student, compulsory assignment of students to a specific supervisor, little time allocated for students by the supervising team who may be selected without students interests, prolongation of the research time, and non-cooperation in publishing the results.
Establishment of a proper way to transfer student's displeasure or criticism to supervisors and establishing a continuous program for informing research teams including supervisors and students about ethical codes can positively affect the issue.