Change Management in Medical Contexts, especially in Medical Education: A Systematized Review

Introduction: Change is a multifaceted and challenging process. Due to the growing and increasing volume of technologies and organizational processes, there is a need to adapt to these changes because adaptation to changes is essential for the organization survival. The purpose of this study was to investigate change management in medical education in order to identify and categorize the strategies, barriers, and other important issues related to change management.

Methods: A systematized review of the related studies was carried out according to the Khan et al.'s guideline. Five bibliographic databases and search engines including Cochrane Library, Eric, PubMed, SCOPUS, and Web of Sciences were searched. The following keywords were used with a period constraint of 2017 to March 2021 to search various online data sources: change management and medical issues. Advanced search options and Boolean operator (AND) were also used to find out more relevant records.

Results: Overall, 498 records were identified. After removing duplicate records and those with irrelevant titles, abstracts, or full texts, we selected 40 articles for data extraction. The Kotter model is frequently used to manage change. Also, consideration of resistance to change and having a plan for it have been important elements of change management.

Conclusion: In most cases, resistance to change was observed, and several ways for resolution merged. Resistance to change and coping strategies are considered as one of the most important factors that must be considered in change situations. Awareness of change management principles and utilization of available models can pave the way for management of the change.