FAIMER 2003 Annual Report: Educating the Educators

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FAIMER-NBME Fellowship Collaboration

The Evaluation Fellowship Program is an educational initiative of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) designed to allow international medical school faculty, or staff members of official agencies involved in the evaluation of physicians in their home countries, to study aspects of NBME's operations. Under the program, Fellows spend between three and six months in residence at NBME in Philadelphia, participating in the day-to-day operations of NBME organizational units that are engaged in activities such as test administration, medical school services, psychometrics and scoring, test design and development, test construction, and information technology. The goal of the program is to enable Fellows to serve as resident experts in such topics at their home country institutions.

In 2003, FAIMER and NBME collaborated to further develop the educational opportunities available through the NBME's Evaluation Fellowship Program. The collaboration calls for NBME to host two staff members of the National Medical Examination Centre (NMEC) in Beijing, People's Republic of China, in 2004. FAIMER will provide funding and visa sponsorship for the Fellows, who will devote several months to studying aspects of medical licensing examinations.

The fellowships have been awarded to Dr. Ju He and Dr. Meiqing Zhang. Dr. He holds a Bachelor of Medicine degree and a Master's degree in Hygiene Toxicology from the West China University of Medical Sciences. She serves in the NMEC Division of Item Development, where she is responsible for all aspects of item writing for the National Medical Licensing Examination. Dr. Zhang holds a Bachelor of Preventive Medicine degree and a Master in Educational and Psychological Measurement degree from the Beijing Normal University. She also works in the NMEC Division of Item Development, providing staff support for test plan development, defining specifications, and conducting item writing workshops.

Educating the Educators

Effective medical education is central to the task of meeting the health care needs of communities. Through its programs for medical faculty, FAIMER seeks to provide the skills and knowledge necessary to enhance and expand medical education with the goal of improving health outcomes.

FAIMER's programs for medical educators emphasize co-creation of educational experiences to meet needs identified by medical school faculty, enabling them to serve as resources for their colleagues and institutions. Participants focus on issues and projects of their choosing that are supported by their home institutions. The FAIMER programs foster cross-cultural exchange of educational knowledge and experiences. Participants partner with program faculty, U.S. mentors, and with each other in ongoing collaborative relationships. A growing network of medical educators, coupled with regional meetings, provide collective support and expertise for individual efforts.

During the programs, participants enhance their educational expertise by: (1) learning about methodologies for teaching and assessment that are viewed as best in the developed world, (2) learning how to adapt these methodologies for appropriate use in the Fellows' home institutions, and (3) sharing their own teaching methodologies with colleagues and faculty from other medical schools. In addition, the programs focus on personal and professional development; leadership; and program planning, implementation, and evaluation, which are essential to actualizing and sustaining change.

FAIMER's programs for international medical educators build on ECFMG's tradition of providing exchange and consultative services. ECFMG established its first fellowship program for international medical school faculty in 1983, and continued to develop and support exchange opportunities, at both the individual and institutional level, in the decades that followed. In 2001, FAIMER assumed responsibility for ECFMG's educational programs for the international medical community and established its first program, the FAIMER Institute. The transition of the former ECFMG fellowship programs to FAIMER was completed in 2003.

FAIMER's educational programs focus on serving medical educators and institutions in specific, geographical regions. These geographical foci contribute to local networks of medical educators, facilitating communication and collaboration. They also provide local working models for enhancing medical education. Taken together, these resources provide self-sustaining support for improving medical education, maximizing the impact of the Foundation's resources. In 2003, FAIMER identified educators and institutions in India as the primary focus of its educational programs. Additional areas of concentration will be educators and institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as South America.

In establishing FAIMER, ECFMG formalized its commitment to programs for international medical educators. FAIMER shares this commitment and, through its programs, will continue to support curricular development that meets local needs and contributes to improving medical education worldwide.

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