Currently submitted to: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Feb 18, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Feb 18, 2026 - Apr 15, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Developing a Framework for Skill Enhancement of Medical Tourism Stakeholders in Iran: A Protocol for a Multiphase Mixed-Methods Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Despite Iran’s competitive advantages in medical costs and surgical expertise, the medical tourism industry suffers from fragmented service delivery and a lack of standardized competencies among stakeholders.
Objective:
This study aims to develop and validate a localized »Skill Enhancement Framework« for Iran’s medical tourism workforce.
Methods:
A multiphase mixed-methods design is employed. Phase I (Scoping Review) has mapped global competencies. Phase II involves qualitative semi-structured interviews to identify localized needs and socio-economic barriers. Phase III utilizes the Delphi technique to reach expert consensus and validate the final framework.
Results:
no result
Conclusions:
By integrating evidence-based findings with expert insights, this protocol provides a methodological roadmap to professionalize the value chain, ensuring the sustainability and global competitiveness of Iran’s medical tourism brand
Citation
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Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.