Introduction
The establishment of the major of History of Medicine in Iran—at two levels of the Master of Science and Ph.D.—dates back to the year 2013. Student admission for the Ph.D. program at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences took place for only one year—by admitting three students—and was subsequently halted. It was not a good experience and only one of these students finally succeeded in graduating. However, student admissions at the master's level have continued, and to date, eight major medical sciences universities in Iran- including the Tehran University of Medical Sciences- recruit and train students in the history of medicine at this level. However, regarding the doctoral program, Tehran University of Medical Sciences-through great effort- finally succeeded in obtaining authorization from the Ministry of Health and Medical Education to admit Ph.D. candidates for the year 2021.
Unlike the initial phase in 2013, the new round was the successful relaunch of the Ph.D. program in the History of Medicine. Following two years of admission of students only at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, the program was subsequently established at two other universities as well, Iran University of Medical Sciences and Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences.
Now, in the summer of 2026, the first round of Ph.D. candidates of history of medicine were graduated from Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Dr. Hamed Ahansazan, Dr. Samaneh Arabian and Dr. Narges Tajik are these three first graduates of history of medicine (Ph.D.), respectively (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Images from the thesis defense sessions of Dr. Ahansazan, Dr. Tajik, and Dr. Arabian
Graduation of the First Specialists in the History of Medicine in Iran heralds a fresh start for the advancement of knowledge in this field—both nationally and regionally—a progression driven by the increasing specialization of research and education, the active participation of experts, and the expansion of the discipline's scientific community.
Funding
None.
Conflict of Interest
None.
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