Vol:.(1234567890) Journal of Religion and Health (2021) 60:2138–2153 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-020-01118-0 1 3 ORIGINAL PAPER Fundamental Values of the Healthcare and Medical Education System: Evolution of the Iranian‑Religious Progress Model Shima Tabatabai 1  · Nasser Simforoosh 2 Accepted: 21 October 2020 / Published online: 4 January 2021 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021 Abstract Iranian culture and religious teachings lead to a unique value-laden model in health and medical education systems. This research aimed to determine these fundamental values. To identify the health system values in the religious context of Iran, a mixed critical analysis–synthesis method was conducted. Furthermore, a focus group dis- cussion with experts was conducted. Finally, we determined the fundamental values for the Iranian-religious progress model of health care and medical education. God centeredness, spirituality, divine and religious belief, ethical virtues, health centere- dness and promoting all dimensions of human health, justice, protecting the human dignity, protecting health-related rights, social accountability, community centered- ness, and scientific authority (excellence) are the values that should be considered to complete the value statement of the Iranian-religious progress model of health care and medical education. Keywords Values · Religious · Health care · Progress model · Medical Education Background Promoting social accountability is the main concern of policymakers in medi- cal sciences education. The mission and commitment of the Iranian health and medical education system are responding properly to the needs of the community and moving toward the Iran’s Horizon 2025 (IH2025) and Health Comprehensive Roadmap (HCR) (2025 IH 2010; IHCR 2011). Besides analyzing the health needs and demands of the society, it is necessary to analyze the values of the national * Shima Tabatabai shtabatabai@yahoo.com 1 Medical Education Group, Medical Ethics and Law Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medial Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2 Department of Urology, Shahid Labbafi Nejad Hospital, Urology and Nephrology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran