A hierarchical goal programming model for scheduling the outpatient clinics

•We address the problem of scheduling the outpatient clinics.•We schedule the assignments of the residents and the specialists.•We aim to improve the quality of education of the residency program.•Problems of realistic sizes can be solved in a reasonable amount of time.

In this study we address scheduling the assignments of the residents and the senior academic staff to outpatient clinics (OCs) in a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) department. The current schedules are prepared manually. The department is not satisfied with the schedules because of frequent changes and incapabilities in handling the preferences of the residents. We propose a hierarchical goal programming (HGP) model to address these issues. Our proposed model reduces the frequent changes within monthly schedules, allow the residents to work with different specialists until their graduation, satisfies the preferences of the residents and conforms with the requirements of the department. Problems of realistic size can be solved to optimality in a reasonable amount of time.