Message from the Chair
As I reported last year, it will be important for FAIMER to establish collaborative relationships with others working to improve medical education. Through these collaborations, the Foundation can leverage its resources and identify promising new directions. As is evident from the President's report, these collaborations have begun in earnest and are beginning to produce results.
A major charge to the Board of Directors is to consider challenges for the Foundation and to provide the planning that will support its success. Thus, the Board has been engaged in a planning process which resulted in a strategic plan that was adopted and enthusiastically endorsed by the Board in July 2004. The plan formalizes the three areas of activity that FAIMER will pursue in order to improve international medical education. It outlines a broad vision for each area of activity. The plan also specifies both short- and long-term goals for each area. Finally, the plan specifies critical milestones by which the Foundation's progress will be evaluated. To support the plan, two Board committees were formed in 2004: one to oversee the Foundation's educational activities and a second to guide its research and tracking functions.
In its efforts to create educational opportunities for those who teach physicians, the strategic plan charges FAIMER with the task of creating a vibrant, global network of medical educators. The existence of such a network would facilitate the development and exchange of information that could improve medical education. To accomplish this goal, FAIMER will pursue development of regional areas of activity among medical educators. It will also identify external sources of support for resources for medical educators.
In the realm of research, the Board's Research Committee will establish an agenda that will allow the Foundation to investigate and understand the educational experiences and migration patterns of international medical graduates and their impact on world health. FAIMER's research agenda will be refined to develop expertise in specific areas of inquiry and will emphasize investigation of areas that will support sound and timely policy decisions related to public health. In conducting its investigations, the plan directs FAIMER to collaborate with other organizations that support its research and to establish guidelines to govern these relationships, including policies regarding data sharing.
The plan also calls for FAIMER to become an outstanding source of information on international medical education. The Foundation will develop and maintain high quality data on international medical education and make these data resources widely available at little or no cost. FAIMER's first resource, the International Medical Education Directory (IMED), is used widely and is an excellent example of the high quality data resources that are needed. FAIMER's resources will be designed so that they support both informed policy making on physician workforce issues as well as targeted inquiries on international medical schools and their graduates. The data collected and maintained by FAIMER will include indicators of educational quality that will support development of an accreditation mechanism for international medical schools.
FAIMER's mission, to support ECFMG as it promotes international medical education through programmatic and research activities, is a substantial one. To succeed, we must proceed with clear directions and well-defined goals. We must recognize how each of the Foundation's activities contributes to this overall mission. And, not of least importance, we must have methods by which we can periodically gauge our progress. The strategic plan is the formal means by which we can guide and evaluate FAIMER's progress.
For FAIMER's Directors, the process of plan development presented many opportunities to be more aware of the Foundation's potential accomplishments and the positive impact they could have on world health. These are exciting discussions that will continue in the coming year. On behalf of the entire Board, let me say that we look forward to being a part of the important role that FAIMER will play in the international medical community.
James A. Hallock, M.D.
Chair, Board of Directors
Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research
