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2010 News Archive

The Network: Towards Unity for Health 2010 Conference

(posted December 20, 2010)
Juanita Bezuidenhout
Homeward bound on a trek between Barabise and Karthali, Nepal, with Ravi Shankar (PSG 2007).
(click image to enlarge)

The Network: Towards Unity for Health (The Network: TUFH) 2010 Conference was held November 13-17 in Kathmandu, Nepal. The theme of this year’s conference was “Advancing Quality through Partnerships of Health Professions Education and Health Services Institutions.” Participating institutions and individuals had opportunities to share approaches and innovations with each other through: a workshop that invited them to reflect on their stories through appreciative inquiry, led by Thomas Chacko (PHIL 2004) and Marina Thomas (IFME 2004); another that encouraged involvement of students in change management, led by Rashmi Vyas (PHIL 2003), Anshu (CMCL 2007, PHIL 2009), and Payal Bansal (PHIL 2007); as well as one on use of standardized patients in student assessment, led by Jack Boulet, Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources. FAIMER Fellows Shital Bhandary (PSG 2008) and Shambhu Upadhyay (GSMC 2009) organized a visit to Patan Academy of Health Sciences, where participants walked through the problem-based learning rooms and viewed the communications center where rural doctors phone in consultations. Attendees also had an opportunity to participate in a post-conference excursion to B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences in Dharan, Nepal, a more rural setting featuring strong community-based programs.

More than 30 FAIMER faculty, staff, and Fellows participated in the conference, serving as conference organizers, presenters, workshop facilitators, and discussants. Two Fellows, Sarah Kiguli (PHIL 2004) and Francisco (Pacho) Lamus Lemus (PHIL 2009), are also members of The Network: TUFH Executive Committee. FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute William P. Burdick gave one of four keynote presentations, entitled “The Link between Health Professions Education and Health.” Dinesh Badyal (PHIL 2009) received the award for best poster for “Profile of Participants in a National Faculty Development Program in India.” Dr. Anshu remarked after returning from the conference that, “It was wonderful to see such a large gathering of FAIMER Fellows from around the world” and it “felt nice to see most posters reflect the FAIMER philosophy.”

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International Medical Education Day 2010

(posted December 20, 2010)

Each year the FAIMER Institute devotes one day to exploring a specific theme in international medical education (IME). This year, IME Day focused on FAIMER itself, celebrating the organization’s first 10 years and developing priorities for the next 10 years of growth. On October 19, approximately 80 participants from 17 countries gathered for discussion and engaged in group activities. Participants included Fellows and faculty of the 2009 and 2010 FAIMER Institutes, Board and staff members from FAIMER and the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), and other guests.

The group took time to recognize the special contributions of the directors and faculty of the FAIMER Regional Institutes, and used concurrent small group discussions to identify the role that FAIMER has played in Fellows’ professional lives and describe how it has served as a catalyst for change.

Leslie Crutchfield, coauthor of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits, delivered a keynote address that provided a foundation for small group work. Ms. Crutchfield outlined the six practices: Serve and Advocate, Make Markets Work, Inspire Evangelists, Nurture Nonprofit Networks, Master the Art of Adaptation, and Share Leadership; and then led participants in high-engagement activities that asked them to apply these principles to FAIMER.

FAIMER’s Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute, William Burdick, M.D., M.S.Ed., encouraged participants to “think big” during their small group discussions regarding FAIMER’s future. Representatives from each group reported back to the larger group, and Ms. Crutchfield was given an opportunity to provide input on each. Before leaving, participants were asked to fill out a card with one “big idea” that they believed FAIMER should focus on for the future.

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2010 Association for Medical Education in Europe Conference

(posted November 29, 2010)
Juanita Bezuidenhout
Juanita Bezuidenhout (PHIL 2005 Fellow and Co-Director of the Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute) was awarded the third-place Medical Teacher Poster Prize at AMEE 2010.
(click image to enlarge)

The 2010 Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Conference was held September 4-8 in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. More than 2,200 participants from 80 countries attended, and 1,700 abstracts were submitted. Session formats included workshops, short communications, posters, specialty courses, symposia, and plenaries.

Nearly 30 FAIMER faculty, staff, and Fellows participated in AMEE 2010, serving as session chairs, course and workshop faculty, presenters, and discussants. Juanita Bezuidenhout, FAIMER Institute 2005 Fellow and Co-Director of the Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI), was awarded the third-place Medical Teacher Poster Prize for her poster entitled “The Show Must Go On!” The poster showed how ethics, a holistic approach to patient care, and skills such as critical thinking, time management, and communication are demonstrated through roleplay to health sciences students. Dr. Bezuidenhout is an associate professor in the Department of Anatomical Pathology at Stellenbosch University and National Health Laboratory Services in Tygerberg, South Africa.

The Chair of FAIMER’s Board of Directors Emmanuel G. Cassimatis served as chair for a plenary session that included presentations on the future of both medical school curricula and professional physician education. Dr. Cassimatis and FAIMER President and CEO John Norcini also co-chaired the symposium International Accreditation in Medical Education: VIII Ibero-American Session. Dr. Norcini served as a panel discussant in the symposium Assessing the Future Healthcare Professional – What Is Best Practice? FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute William P. Burdick took part in the panel discussion Updates in Medical Education – What You Really Need to Know. Dr. Burdick and FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources John R. Boulet served as panel discussants for the symposium Medical Student Education in the 21st Century – A New Flexnerian Era? Dr. Boulet also chaired a short communications session on OSCE: Psychometrics. Co-Director of SAFRI Vanessa Burch (PHIL 2001) and Christina Tan (PHIL 2005) each chaired short communications sessions on clinical teaching.

Several FAIMER faculty members served as faculty for courses and workshops at AMEE 2010. M. Brownell Anderson co-conducted the Essential Skills in Medical Education Assessment (ESMEA) Course. Stewart P. Mennin co-conducted the Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME) Course and co-conducted the Young Medical Educator Workshop: How to Frame a Clear Research Question with faculty member Regina Petroni Mennin. Ara Tekian taught the workshop Hearing Versus Listening: Is There a Difference? He also chaired a short communications session on Curriculum Integration. For more information on the AMEE 2010 conference, including a complete program listing, see http://www.amee.org/index.asp?pg=132.

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FAIMER Fellows Continue to Work on “Really Good Stuff”

(posted November 29, 2010)

The November 2010 issue of Medical Education contains the latest collection of “Really Good Stuff,” a peer-reviewed compilation of short, structured reports, published semiannually, on new ideas in medical education, including curriculum design, teaching practice, and assessment. Included in the current issue are six reports on the innovation projects of FAIMER Fellows (bold font):

“A Way to Assess Students’ Clinical Reasoning”
Iêda M. B. Aleluia (BRAZ 2009), Paulo M. Carvalho, Jr. (PHIL 2006), Marta S. Menezes (BRAZ 2007)

“Community-based Cervical Cancer Prevention in the Western Amazon”
José O. Ferrari (BRAZ 2009)

“Using Appreciative Inquiry on Learning Styles to Facilitate Student Learning”
Latha Rajendra Kumar (PSG 2009), Thomas V. Chacko (PHIL 2004, IFME 2006)

“Teaching Community-based Palliative Care to Medical Students”
Sairu Philip (PSG 2009), Ayshabeevi Remlabeevi

“Virtual Microscopy as a Teaching Tool Adjuvant to Traditional Microscopy”
Seema Raja (PSG 2009)

“Identification of Social Determinants of Health Components for Teaching: A Pilot Process”
Yegnanarayanaiyer S. Sivan (PSG 2009), Thomas V. Chacko (PHIL 2004, IFME 2006), Pandian Subramaniyan

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International Conference in Medical Education 2010

(posted November 2, 2010)

The 2010 International Conference in Medical Education (ICME) will be held December 5-7 at the Yas Island Rotana Hotel, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The theme of the conference is “Beyond Flexner: A Roadmap for Excellence in Health Professions Education,” in celebration of the centenary of the Flexner Report. Discussion topics will include accreditation, admissions, assessment, curricular innovations, instruction, and program evaluation. Serving as keynote speakers will be FAIMER President and Chief Executive Officer John J. Norcini, FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources John R. Boulet, and FAIMER faculty members Janet Grant and Ara Tekian. Pre-conference workshops will be held December 4. Health professionals from all disciplines are invited to attend the conference. The deadline for submission of abstracts is November 7. For more information, visit http://www.icme.org.

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6th Congress of the Asian Medical Education Association

(posted November 2, 2010)

Health care professionals and health professions educators are invited to attend the 6th Congress of the Asian Medical Education Association (AMEA), to be held March 23-26, 2011, at International Medical University (IMU) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pre-congress workshops will be held on March 23. The theme of the congress is “Trends in Medical Education,” and topics to be covered include workplace-based assessment, standard setting in assessment, qualitative research in medical education, curriculum evaluation, and educational leadership, among others. International faculty for the congress includes FAIMER President and Chief Executive Officer John J. Norcini, FAIMER faculty member Rita Sood (PHIL 2005), and 2007 FAIMER Institute Fellow Debra Sim. Elango Sambandam (PHIL 2010) is a member of the organizing committee, and Dr. Sood is also serving as an International Advisor.

The congress will include the presentation of the IMU-Ron Harden Innovation in Medical Education Award. The award was created to honor Dr. Ronald Harden of the United Kingdom, keynote speaker of the congress, and a recognized leader in medical education, who was instrumental to the establishment of IMU. Submissions for the award, in the form of abstracts and extended abstracts, must be received no later than November 30.

For more information on the congress, including guidelines for abstract submission, visit http://amea2011.imu.edu.my/.

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FAIMER Fellows Conducting Workshops

(posted November 2, 2010)

In July, Venu Gopala Rao Tanneru (CMCL 2007) and Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences conducted a one-day workshop on Reforms in Medical Education. Sixty principals from several of Dr. NTR University’s affiliated medical and dental colleges gathered in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, to identify the strengths and weaknesses of India’s medical education system and discuss the implementation of reforms that would improve the areas of weakness. Topics included improving tools for evaluating medical education; developing an accreditation system; improving faculty retention; using technology; and encouraging continuous professional development, research, and publication. The government of India is expected to take the recommendations of this working group under consideration when contemplating changes to medical education policy in the country.

Twenty-five participants from Maharashtra state attended the Third Basic Medical Education Technology Workshop, held July 1-2, 2010, at the Regional Center for National Faculty Development at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha. Topics included educational objectives, taxonomy of learning, teaching methods and media, giving effective feedback, and group dynamics, among others. Professor and regional center faculty member Nitin Gaikwad (GSMC 2009) led several sessions. July marked the first anniversary of the designation of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha, as a regional center in India’s nationwide faculty development program. In addition to the three medical education technology workshops, the center conducted workshops on writing grants, writing scientific papers, and a two-part advanced workshop on evidenced-based medicine, all in its first year.

In Nagpur, India, N. K. P. Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre conducted a three-day basic faculty development course for 25 faculty members from July 27 to 29, 2010. Suresh Chari (GSMC 2009) is Professor of Biochemistry and Director of Research and the Medical Education Technology (MET) Unit at the university, and this course was based on his FAIMER fellowship innovation project. Fellows Shubhada Anant Gade (CMCL 2010) and Sushil Pande (GSMC 2009) assisted Dr. Chari in conducting this course for their colleagues. Nitin Gaikwad attended as an official observer representing the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) nationwide faculty development program. MCI officially recognized the MET Unit course and granted permission for it to be conducted twice annually.

The Medical Education Unit at Pramukhswami Medical College, Karamsad, held its second faculty development workshop on basic medical education technologies from July 29 to 31, 2010, in Gujarat, India. Pramukhswami Medical College faculty members Himanshu Pandya (CMCL 2007), Praveen R. Singh (CMCL 2008), Suman P. Singh (CMCL 2008), Shushil Kumar Singh (GSMC 2010), and Uday Shankar Singh (GSMC 2008) each led sessions, as did Chetna Desai (CMCL 2007) from B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad. Topics included educational objectives, group dynamics, microteaching, problem-based learning, assessment, objective structured clinical examination (OSCE), and the mini-clinical evaluation exercise (mini-CEX). Thirty health professions educators from the institutions of H. M. Patel Centre for Medical Care & Education participated in the workshop, which was directed by Dr. Pandya and coordinated by Dr. Shushil Kumar Singh.

In August, Savita Marathe (GSMC 2008) and the Department of Medical Education & Technology at Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) conducted their Fourth Advanced Course on Health Sciences Education Technology at MUHS Regional Centre, Pune. The goal of this faculty development course is to enhance skills that participants can use to make educational improvements at their own institutions. Participants are required to conduct a small education project at their home institution. Nearly 100 educators from various health sciences institutions across Maharashtra state have attended this course in the four times it has been offered.

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Home Institutions of CMCL-FRI and GSMC-FRI to Offer Advanced Course in Medical Education

(posted November 2, 2010)

The Medical Council of India (MCI) has upgraded the designation of six of the schools in its nationwide faculty development program from regional center to nodal center. Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, home to the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute, and Seth G.S. Medical College, home to the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute, have both been upgraded to nodal centers. Under the MCI plan, the regional center designation provides approval for conducting a three-day basic education workshop, while the nodal center designation provides approval for conducting the basic workshop as well as an advanced course in medical education. Participants who have completed the basic education workshop will be eligible for the advanced course, which will emphasize self-learning and foster mentoring relationships among medical educators. Programming is still under development, but the basic structure for the advanced course will model the FAIMER fellowship program. Tentatively, the course will be 12 months in duration and include two sessions, each consisting of one week of on-site instruction followed by six months of distance learning. As part of the course, participants would design an educational innovation project and implement it at their home institution.

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Educators from Guinea-Bissau Participate in Four-Week Program in Fortaleza, Brazil

(posted October 26, 2010)

A four-week program for 30 educators from Guinea-Bissau from different educational backgrounds was held at the Universidad Federal do Ceará (UFC) in Fortaleza, Brazil, in late August-early September. The program was part of a movement by the Brazilian government aimed at creating a public higher education system in Guinea-Bissau, one of several Portuguese-speaking African countries with which UFC is involved.

Professor Helio Barros, an advisor to the Brazilian Minister of Science and Technology, visited the February 2010 session of the Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute and worked with faculty members to develop a program based on the FAIMER model, but tailored to the specific needs of Guinea-Bissau. Participants completed one-week rotations at different schools at UFC, supervised by invited faculty members from UFC and other Brazilian universities. Over the course of the program, they prepared and presented six projects that they will continue in groups upon their return to Guinea-Bissau.

Henry Campos (PHIL 2002), Co-Director of the Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute, reports that the transformation of the participants over the four-week program was very impressive. He states that the program is further evidence of the power of the FAIMER strategy and exemplifies its ability to be used in a variety of settings.

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Academic Medicine Announces Publication of Its First eBook

(posted October 26, 2010)

Academic Medicine has announced publication of its first eBook, developed using articles that were featured in the February 2010 issue as chapters. This issue, marking the 100th anniversary of the Flexner Report, contains 27 articles about Abraham Flexner and his legacy, including two articles co-authored by FAIMER staff and Fellows:

Relevance of the Flexner Report to Contemporary Medical Education in South Asia
Zubair Amin, Deputy Head, Medical Education Unit, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
William P. Burdick, FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute
Avinash Supe (PHIL 2002), Director of the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute
Tejinder Singh (PHIL 2003), Director of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute

Flexner’s Global Influence: Medical Education Accreditation in Countries that Train Physicians Who Pursue Residency in the United States
Marta van Zanten, FAIMER Research Associate
John R. Boulet, FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources
Frank A. Simon, FAIMER Senior Scholar

The eBook is free to download and is formatted to two types of file: an epub file for iPads, Nooks, and Sony eReaders; and a prc file for the Kindle. To access the eBook, visit the Announcements section of the Academic Medicine website: http://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/pages/default.aspx.

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National Board of Examinations in India Creates Specialty Advisory Board

(posted October 26, 2010)

The National Board of Examinations in India recently constituted a Specialty Advisory Board in Medical Education and Technology. The goals of this Specialty Board are to:

The 2010-2011 Specialty Advisory Board is comprised of: Bipin Batra (PHIL 2010) of the National Board of Examinations; Prof. Swarna Rekha of St. John’s Medical College in Bangalore; CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute Director Tejinder Singh (PHIL 2003) of Christian Medical College, Ludhiana; Rita Sood (PHIL 2005) of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi; and GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute Director Avinash Supe (PHIL 2002) of Seth G.S. Medical College in Mumbai.

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MCI Working Groups in Medical Education Provide Roadmap for Reform

(posted October 26, 2010)

In July 2010, the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India (MCI) convened two Working Groups, one each on undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) medical education, in an effort to develop a roadmap for achieving targets set forth in its “Vision 2015” statement on improving medical education. The Working Groups were tasked with assessing the present status of medical education, comparing the current situation with global trends and needs, and developing appropriate strategies for achieving reforms in both education and practice. Medical educationists from throughout India with the “vision and expertise” to address these issues were invited to participate, including FAIMER faculty members Payal Bansal (PHIL 2007) and Rita Sood (PHIL 2005), and Director of the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute Avinash Supe (PHIL 2002). Dr. Bansal served on the UG Working Group; Drs. Sood and Supe served on the PG Working Group.

The groups met over the course of three weekends, taking part in day-long meetings that included much intense discussion and brainstorming. Each group prepared a report, submitted to MCI for review and implementation, with recommendations for both short- and long-term reform and restructuring within an overall timeframe of 10 years. Areas addressed in the reports included admissions, curriculum, examinations, the supply of and demand for doctors, and continuing professional development. Dr. Supe indicated that FAIMER principles and methods were useful in developing ideas proposed in the groups’ recommendations. He added that the meetings were a great experience and a welcome opportunity to contribute to the improvement of medical education in his country.

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New Series Announced in The Open University-FAIMER-WFME Distance Learning Modules in Medical Education

(posted September 17, 2010)

The Open University-FAIMER-WFME Distance Learning Modules in Medical Education is pleased to offer a new series on the theme of “Educational Management and Leadership.” The first four modules in the series are open for registration:

Module Start Date
Leadership in Health Professions Education January 10, 2011
Understanding and Managing Self April 11, 2011
Understanding and Managing Others, Performance and Conflict July 11, 2011
Positive, Appreciative, Strengths-Based Leadership October 10, 2011
Leading and Managing Projects TBA
Managing Meetings and Group Decision-Making TBA
Team Building TBA
Managing and Leading Change TBA

Registration is also still open for modules in the first series on “Self-review and Accreditation:”

Module Start Date
Self-Review in Low-Resource Circumstances October 4, 2010
Implementing Improvements after Review January 10, 2011
Planning an External Review April 11, 2011
Purposes and Methods of Accreditation July 11, 2011
Non-Regulatory Approaches to Quality Assurance of Medical Education October 10, 2011

The cost of each module is US $85.00 and space is limited.

Modules in both series were developed by FAIMER in collaboration with The Open University Centre for Education in Medicine (OUCEM) in the United Kingdom and the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). Feedback from participants on completed modules has been extremely positive:

“Distance learning has been a great experience for me. I am really enjoying and learning new things daily. I will recommend it to all colleagues here…”

“I … eagerly wait to read the tutor’s comments. The past 10 weeks have been lovely.”

“I really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. They would be definitely useful for the development of our institution…”

Each module takes approximately one hour per week for 10 weeks. Modules can be downloaded or used on-line. Participants are provided with materials and supporting documentation, as well as access to an on-line discussion forum. A learning advisor is assigned to each participant to stimulate and discuss progress. Participants are expected to complete two one-hour assignments (within the 10-hour allocation) for which they will receive marked feedback. At the end of each completed module, participants will receive a certificate which can be used as evidence of Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Visit The Open University-FAIMER-WFME Distance Learning Modules in Medical Education page to register or to learn more. If you have any questions, please e-mail inquiry@faimer.org.

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International Meeting on Medical Education for Universal Health Care Systems—EXPO SGTES 2010

(posted September 17, 2010)

A diverse group of experts in Human Resources for Health (HRH) took part in an international meeting on medical education for universal health care systems held in Brasilia, Brazil, on July 19, 2010, as part of the Secretariat of Labor and Education Management for Health’s (SGTES) three-day EXPO SGTES conference. The purpose of the meeting was to foster collaborations between South American countries to strengthen medical education geared towards primary health care. Organized by the Brazilian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), participants included FAIMER, the Ministry of Education of Brazil, the Ministry of Health of Peru, representatives of PAHO and the World Health Organization, delegations of HRH units in South American countries, South American associations of medical education, and representatives of Brazilian medical schools. Discussions were framed by presentations on several successful initiatives, including the Brasil-FAIMER Regional Institute (BRAZ-FRI). The FAIMER Regional Initiative in Latin America (FRILA) was explored as a possible avenue for expanding collaboration throughout South America. Ralf Graves, M.S., Program Manager of FAIMER Regional Initiatives; Henry Campos, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., and Eliana Amaral, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Directors of BRAZ-FRI; Francisco Campos, M.D., head of SGTES and faculty member of BRAZ-FRI; and more than 40 Latin American FAIMER Fellows and members of FRILA were in attendance.

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2010 South African Association of Health Educationalists (SAAHE) Conference

(posted September 8, 2010)

The third annual conference of the South African Association of Health Educationalists (SAAHE) was held July 22-24 at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. The conference, themed “Making Education Matter,” focused on health professions education and health care delivery, and attracted local and regional experts as well as guests from the United Kingdom, the United States, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Discussions centered on the impact that good health science education has on improving patient care. During this year’s conference, SAAHE hosted the first Distinguished SAAHE Educator lecture, presented by Vanessa Burch (PHIL 2001), Co-Director of the Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI) and Chair of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cape Town. Her address, “Primary Health Care—How Far Have We Come?” challenged conference attendees to rethink some of their approaches to the education of health science professionals as a means of enhancing primary health care. FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute William Burdick, M.D., M.S.Ed., was one of six keynote speakers, and more than 30 FAIMER Fellows from SAFRI and the FAIMER Institute were among the conference presenters. Rachel Weiss (SAFRI 2009) won first prize for her poster “The PIL Project: Doctors and the Language of Design,” based on her SAFRI innovation project. For more information on the SAAHE 2010 conference, including a complete program listing, see http://web.wits.ac.za/NewsRoom/Conferences/SAAHE/.

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Fellows Organize Two-Day Course on Simulation in Santiago, Chile

(posted September 8, 2010)

More than 100 health professions educators from across Chile gathered in Santiago to attend a two-day course on simulation, held July 22-23, 2010, at the Universidad del Desarrollo. The course was the culmination of nearly a year’s worth of planning, development, and coordination among FAIMER Fellows, FAIMER faculty, the university, and members of the FAIMER Regional Initiative in Latin America (FRILA). Janet Bloomfield (PHIL 2009) and Astrid Valenzuela (PHIL 2007), both members of FRILA and the Universidad del Desarrollo faculty, spearheaded the project.

The two-day course included plenary sessions on developing simulation scenarios with standardized patients, assessing the clinical performance of students in these scenarios, and basic psychometrics. Workshops focused on standard setting and the development of scoring tools to assess clinical performance. John R. Boulet, Ph.D., Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources at FAIMER, and Tony Errichetti, Ph.D., Chief of Virtual Medicine at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, led several sessions on the application of simulation for the training and assessment of students and health care providers. FAIMER sponsored FRILA members Ivan Solarte (PHIL 2007) from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and Andrea Dávila-Cervantes (PHIL 2009) from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México to attend the course and make presentations based on their respective simulation activities. Dr. Bloomfield, Dr. Valenzuela, and Ricardo Ronco (PHIL 2005) also presented on the simulation work being done at the Universidad del Desarrollo.

Participants provided positive feedback, and Dr. Valenzuela saw success beyond the immediate faculty development benefits, saying “This course was a very important activity in terms of raising awareness about FAIMER and FRILA, and it was a significant step toward increasing interaction and organization among the different South American countries.” Plans for additional courses are already under discussion.

To learn more about FRILA and its mission to build a network to improve health professions education throughout Latin America, please visit the FRILA website (note: this is a Spanish language website).

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Study Finds Non-U.S. Citizen International Medical Graduates Provide Same Quality of Care as Physicians Educated in the United States

(posted August 9, 2010)

Internationally trained physicians are key members of the U.S. physician workforce. The United States has not produced enough nationally educated physicians to meet the country’s health care demands for some time, and internationally trained physicians have made up for this shortfall, comprising approximately 25% of the total U.S. physician workforce. Despite a rigorous certification process, questions have persisted concerning the quality of care that these physicians provide. A new study, published in the August issue of Health Affairs and authored by a team led by FAIMER President and CEO John Norcini, examines the performance of internationally trained physicians compared to their U.S. counterparts, and addresses those concerns:

“Evaluating the quality of care provided by graduates of international medical schools” (Health Affairs, 29(8):1461-1468)
John J. Norcini, Ph.D., FAIMER President and CEO
John R. Boulet, Ph.D., FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources
W. Dale Dauphinee, M.D., FAIMER Senior Scholar
Amy Opalek, M.S., FAIMER Data Resource Specialist
Ian D. Krantz, M.D., Member, FAIMER Board of Directors and Chair, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates Board of Trustees
Suzanne T. Anderson, Trustee-at-Large, Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates Board of Trustees

The study analyzed 244,153 hospitalizations of patients with congestive heart failure or acute heart attack in Pennsylvania from 2003 to 2006. Patients were treated by physicians who specialized in family medicine, internal medicine, or cardiology. Each physician fell into one of three groups: U.S. medical graduates, U.S. citizen international medical graduates, and non-U.S. citizen international medical graduates. The composition of physicians in the study closely matched that of the total U.S. physician workforce: Approximately 75% of the 6,113 doctors were U.S. medical graduates, with the remaining 25% educated abroad. Of the physicians educated abroad, approximately 75% were non-U.S. citizens and 25% were U.S. citizens.

The study examined both mortality rates and hospital lengths-of-stay as indicators of the quality of care that physicians provide. Among the three groups, in-hospital death rates differed significantly. Non-U.S. citizen international graduates were associated with a 16% decrease in mortality relative to U.S. citizen international graduates and a 9% decrease relative to U.S. graduates. Patients of U.S. medical graduates had the shortest hospital lengths-of-stay, while patients of U.S. citizen international graduates had the longest. The length-of-stay of patients of non-U.S. citizen international graduates was only slightly higher than that of U.S. graduates, indicating little practical difference.

These results provide a measure of confidence in the care provided by non-U.S. citizen internationally educated physicians and highlight the important contribution that they make to the U.S. health care system. As Dr. Norcini points out, “It is reassuring to know that patients of these doctors receive the same quality of care that they would receive from a physician trained in the United States.” He adds, “These findings bring attention to foreign-trained doctors and the valuable role they have played in responding to the nation’s physician shortage.”

Still, the findings concerning internationally trained U.S. citizens elicit a moment of pause. Why did these physicians fare less well in the study? The authors speculate that some of them may seek their education abroad because they were unable to enter U.S. medical schools due to lower grades and/or test scores. Alternately, the quality of education provided at some of the schools attended by these physicians may be of a lower standard than at schools attended by physicians in the other two groups. There may be other explanations as well, and additional research is warranted. Regardless, as U.S. medical schools expand enrollment to combat the shortage of home-educated physicians, some of the students who might have otherwise gone abroad may apply to medical schools in the United States. If that happens, U.S. schools will need to maintain high admission standards to ensure the quality of the physician pool. Further compounding the issue is a lack of proportionate growth in graduate training programs to complement the expansion of medical schools. As Dr. Norcini points out, “If this continues, the current physician shortages will persist and the numbers of foreign-trained doctors will likely decrease significantly.”

In addition to its findings concerning the three separate groups of medical graduates, the study also provided insights applicable to the general physician population. The authors found that in-hospital mortality rates and hospital lengths-of-stay increase with the number of years following graduation from medical school, whereas specialty board certification was associated with lower mortality and shorter hospital stays. These findings point to the need for ongoing training and periodic assessment throughout a physician’s career to maintain a high level of competence, an important consideration for all doctors, regardless of where they received their education.

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2010 Richard Farrow Gold Medal Awarded to FAIMER President John Norcini

(posted August 9, 2010)

FAIMER President John J. Norcini, Ph.D., was awarded the 2010 Richard Farrow Gold Medal at the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME) 2010 Scientific Meeting, “Medical Education: Innovation in a Traditional World,” which took place July 21-23, at Robinson College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom. The Richard Farrow Gold Medal was established to recognize and honor individuals for their contributions to the goals of ASME, which include: promoting high quality research into medical education, providing opportunities for developing medical educators, disseminating good evidence-based educational practice, informing and advising governmental and other organizations on medical education matters, and developing relationships with other organizations and groupings in health care education.

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Second International Seminar “Frontiers of Medical Education,” Recife, Brazil

(posted August 9, 2010)

The Second International Seminar “Frontiers of Medical Education: Relevant Research Issues in Postgraduate Medical Education” took place May 28-30, 2010, at Instituto de Medicina Integral Prof. Fernando Figueira in Recife, Brazil. The seminar focused on reflection, change, and the systemization of scientific experiments in medical education between national and international research centers, and included multiple workshops, panel discussions, and poster presentations. In attendance at the seminar were FAIMER President and CEO John J. Norcini, Ph.D., FAIMER faculty member Stewart P. Mennin, Ph.D., and several FAIMER Fellows. FAIMER-Brasil was among the seminar’s sponsoring organizations.

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Mexican Association Dedicated to Medical Education Research Launches

(posted August 9, 2010)

On February 11, participants at the 2010 Medical Education Meeting (Jornadas de Educación Médica 2010) held at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), witnessed the launch of an organization devoted to medical education research in Latin America. The new Mexican Association of Medical Education Research (AMIEM) seeks to:

In addition to these goals, AMIEM is developing a journal to help disseminate original medical education research and knowledge throughout Spanish-speaking countries. Options for publishing the journal on-line and/or in print are under consideration.

AMIEM was officially launched by four members of the UNAM Facultad de Medicina: Irene Durante-Montiel (PHIL 2008), Secretary of the Technical Council; Enrique Graue-Wiechers, Dean of the Facultad de Medicina; Octavio Rivero-Serrano, former Dean of the Facultad de Medicina and former Chancellor of UNAM; and Melchor Sánchez-Mendiola, Secretary of Medical Education. Dr. Sánchez-Mendiola serves as President of AMIEM and Dr. Durante-Montiel serves as Treasurer. All four members were organizers of the National Congress on Medical Education, held in Puebla, México, in 2007, where the idea for AMIEM first originated. Participants at that conference, including more than 300 international medical educators, expressed a strong desire to improve medical education research throughout Latin America, so a commitment was made to form an association dedicated to that purpose.

So far AMIEM has 104 members, all from Mexico, including Andrea Dávila-Cervantes (PHIL 2009), who also serves on the UNAM Facultad de Medicina. Plans are to invite medical educators from throughout Latin America to join AMIEM following the launch of the journal.

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Egypt Finalizes National Accreditation Process

(posted August 9, 2010)

In May, the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education (NAQAAE) in Egypt granted its first institutional accreditation to The Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University. FAIMER Fellow Wagdy Talaat (PHIL 2007) is a faculty member and heads the Medical Education Department at Suez Canal University. Egypt’s national accreditation process focuses on two main principles: mission-based assessment (institutional capacity), and outcome-based assessment (educational effectiveness). NAQAAE performs multiple pre-accreditation and accreditation site visits to the institution throughout the process.

NAQAAE was established by law in 2006 and by presidential decree in 2007. Over the past two years, it has developed national standards for every discipline in higher education, working through government-funded accreditation projects and in collaboration with The World Bank.

NAQAAE’s predecessor, the National Quality Assurance and Accreditation Committee (NQAAC), worked for five years to spread quality assurance plans among higher education institutions, prepared the national law for accreditation and sought its endorsement by Egyptian parliament, and laid the groundwork for the independent body that became NAQAAE. Dr. Talaat served as a member of NQAAC.

For more information on Egypt’s accreditation system and the National Authority for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Education, visit http://en.naqaae.org.eg/.

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FAIMER Fellows Conducting Workshops

(posted August 9, 2010)

In April, the regional center for faculty development at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (CMCL) conducted a three-day workshop on basic medical education that featured FAIMER’s core interactive methodology. Forty participants from 10 medical colleges attended the workshop, as did an official observer from India’s nationwide faculty development program. A number of the participants were medical education coordinators who indicated that they plan to initiate similar sessions at their own institutions. FAIMER Fellows comprised the workshop faculty and included CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute Director Tejinder Singh (PHIL 2003), Dinesh Badyal (PHIL 2009), Jugesh Chhatwal (PHIL 2007), Harpreet Kapoor (CMCL 2006), Gagandeep Kwatra (CMCL 2006), Monika Sharma (CMCL 2007), Sheena Singh (CMCL 2006), and Inderpreet Sohi (CMCL 2006).

In May, FAIMER Fellow Noor Ahsen (PHIL 2006) completed an eight-week faculty development workshop on research methodology for mid-career faculty members at Shalamar Medical & Dental College in Lahore, Pakistan. Session topics included the use of inductive and deductive reasoning in science and research, probability sampling techniques, the peer review process and peer-reviewed journals, manuscript writing, research designs, and statistical data analysis. Workshop participants gave positive feedback and expressed a desire for future workshops for mid-career capacity building in research. This is the second eight-week medical education workshop that Dr. Ahsen has led at Shalamar Medical & Dental College since arriving in September 2009.

Venu Gopala Rao Tanneru (CMCL 2007) reported that his institution, Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, organized several faculty development workshops in May and June that were attended by more than 60 faculty members from the university’s 32 affiliated medical colleges. Session topics included basic training and orientation, medical education technology (MET), and the sustainability of MET units. The workshops were held in Secunderabad, Andhra Pradesh, at Gandhi Medical College, an affiliate of Dr. NTR University and a designated regional center in India’s nationwide faculty development program.

Fouzia Shersad (GSMC 2009) served as project manager of the DMC Medical Education Symposium 2010, which was held in May at Dubai Medical College (DMC) in the United Arab Emirates. This continuing education symposium is the fourth in a series of faculty development programs at DMC that focused on best practices in medical education and the professional development of doctors in community health education. The 2010 Symposium featured numerous speakers, including Professor Hossam Hamdy, Vice Chancellor for Medical Colleges and Dean, College of Medicine at University of Sharjah, who addressed the topic of “Assessment in Medical Education.” More than 150 medical educators, practitioners, residents, and interns attended the symposium. In 2009 Dr. Shersad, a senior faculty member and Director of the Institutional Effectiveness Unit at DMC, became the first representative from the United Arab Emirates to join the FAIMER network.

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2010 GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute

(posted August 9, 2010)

The first residential session of the 2010 GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute (GSMC-FRI) took place June 7-13, 2010, in Mumbai, India, under the direction of Avinash Supe. The 2010 GSMC-FRI Fellows are:

Nirmal Baral, M.B.B.S., M.D., B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal

Gaurang Baxi, M.P.Th., C.M.P., P.G.C.V.R., Padmashree Dr. D.Y. Patil College of Physiotherapy, Pimpri, India

Anjali Deshpande, B.D.S., D.Y.N.D., V.S.P.M. Dental College and Research Centre, Nagpur, India

Vasudha Devi, M.B.B.S., M.D., Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India

Jaishree Ghanekar, M.B.B.S., M.D., Mahatma Gandhi Mission’s Medical College, Navi Mumbai, India

Smita Ghate, M.B.B.S., M.D., Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Mumbai, India

Manisha Gohel, M.B.B.S., M.D., Pramukhswami Medical College, Karmasad, India

Seema Jawalekar, M.Sc., Ph.D. (Urolithiasis), Mahatma Gandhi Mission’s Medical College, Navi Mumbai, India

Minnie Kalyanasundaram, M.B.B.S., M.D., Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

Priti Kapadia-Gupta, M.S., Government Medical College of Surat, Surat, India

Rashmi Patil, M.B.B.S., M.D., Seth G.S. Medical College & King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India

Shital Poojary, M.B.B.S., M.D., D.D.V., D.N.B., K.J. Somaiya Medical College, Mumbai, India

Girish Rajadhyaksha, M.B.B.S., M.D., Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai, India

Anita Ramchandran, M.B.B.S., M.D., Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College, Mumbai, India

Pragna Rao, M.B.B.S., M.D., Ph.D., Kamineni Institute of Medical Sciences, Narketpally, India

Priti Shah, M.B.B.S., M.Sc., M.S., Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, Pune, India

Salama Sherine, M.Sc., J.M.H.P.E., King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Sushil Singh, M.B.B.S., M.D., Pramukhswami Medical College, Karmasad, India

Rakhi Tripathi, M.B.B.S., M.D., Seth G.S. Medical College & King Edward Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India

Pinaki Wani, M.B.B.S., M.D., K.J. Somaiya Medical College, Mumbai, India

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2010 International Fellowship in Medical Education Recipients

(posted July 9, 2010)

FAIMER is pleased to announce the 2010 recipients of the International Fellowship in Medical Education (IFME):

Payal Bansal, M.B.B.S., M.S. (Surgery), P.G. Dip. (Health Education), Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) Regional Centre, Pune, India

Henal Shah, M.B.B.S., M.D., D.P.M., Topiwala National Medical College (TNMC), Mumbai, India

Ivan Solarte, M.D., Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia

All three Fellows will be pursuing a Master of Health Professions Education (M.H.P.E.) degree at Maastricht University in the Netherlands beginning in 2011.

Dr. Bansal is a 2007 FAIMER Institute Fellow and a faculty member at the CMCL-, GSMC-, and PSG-FAIMER Regional Institutes. Through the IFME program, she seeks to deepen her knowledge of advanced topics in health professions education and, in particular, program design, to continue her growth as a leader and program developer at MUHS.

Dr. Shah is a 2008 FAIMER Institute Fellow and a Faculty member at the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute. As an associate professor in psychiatry and Chair of the Indian Psychiatric Society (Western Zone), Dr. Shah is interested in learning how to better align the psychiatry curriculum at TNMC with the needs of the community. She also hopes to learn about innovations in teaching-learning and assessment, and to apply that knowledge at both TNMC and the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute.

Dr. Solarte, a 2007 FAIMER Institute Fellow, seeks to improve his understanding of curricular design and implementation, faculty development, and student assessment. He plans on using this knowledge in leading the implementation of a new curriculum at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and as a member of the organizing committee for a new master’s program in health professions education that will be offered by the Association of Colombian Medical Schools. Dr. Solarte would also like to further develop his research skills. As a member of the FAIMER Regional Initiative in Latin America (FRILA), he is interested in conducting research on the migration of health professionals in Latin-American countries.

The IFME program provides support for participating Fellows to pursue advanced degrees in health professions education at selected institutions that offer distance learning programs. The program prepares participants to take on greater educational leadership roles at their home institutions, as well as at FAIMER’s Regional Institutes, with the ultimate goal of improving local health care. The program is open to both FAIMER Institute and FAIMER Regional Institute Fellows. IFME Fellows are selected by FAIMER.

For more information on the IFME program, see www.faimer.org/education/ifme/index.html.

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Save the Dates—National Conference on Health Professions Education to Take Place September 16-17, 2011

(posted July 9, 2010)

The 2nd National Conference on Health Professions Education (NCHPE) will take place September 16-17, 2011, in Vellore, India. The theme for the conference is “Health Professions Education—Toward Meeting the Health Care Needs of India.”

While health professions education in India has grown faster than the population, inequalities in the health care system persist and access to adequate health services has worsened. Despite 60 years of policy changes in medical education, there continues to be a shortage of well-trained physicians in rural areas and other needy regions. NCHPE 2011 aims to address these issues by providing a forum for the discussion of possible reforms to the health professions education system and by drawing on successful models that have been implemented in other countries. In particular, NCHPE 2011 seeks to:

NCHPE 2011 will be hosted by the Medical Education Unit of Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore. Rashmi Vyas (PHIL 2003), Professor of Physiology at CMC, Vellore, is Conference Organizer. Health professions educators from all health care disciplines are invited to attend. Additional details, including registration information, will be provided when they are available.

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2nd Quality Assurance in Medical Education Symposium in Saudi Arabia

(posted July 9, 2010)

The 2nd Quality Assurance in Medical Education Symposium took place May 30-31, 2010, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the Faculty of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute William Burdick, M.D., M.S.Ed., was among the symposium’s invited international speakers. Dr. Burdick gave presentations on “The WFME Standards” and “Excellence in Medical Education,” and led a workshop on “Use of the WFME Standards.” Dr. Burdick also met with faculty from four medical schools to discuss possible development of a Saudi FAIMER Regional Institute, including Dr. Hamza Abdulghani of King Saud University; Dr. Omayma AboulElla of King Abdulaziz Medical University; Dr. Rajaa Mirghani, Dr. Abdulmohsen Alzalabani, Dr. Magdy El Barbary, Dr. Eeman At-Taras, and Dr. Faroque Khan of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences - King Fahad Medical City; and Dr. Mohi Eldin Magzoub and Dr. Margaret Elzubeir of King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences - National Guard Health Affairs.

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New Textbook on Medical Education

(posted July 9, 2010)

Presented by the Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice is a new, comprehensive textbook on medical education scheduled to be available from Wiley-Blackwell publishers in August 2010. Edited by Tim Swanwick, Director of Professional Development in the London Deanery, Visiting Fellow at the Institute of Education, and Visiting Professor of Medical Education at the University of Bedfordshire, the book is designed to be an accessible reference for students and practitioners of medical education at all levels: from undergraduates to those pursuing continuing professional development.

Understanding Medical Education includes chapters on teaching and learning, problem-based learning, personal development, e-learning, mentoring, group encounters, simulation, test design, research, assessment, and leadership, among others. Also included are three chapters contributed by FAIMER staff and faculty:

“Principles of Curriculum Design”
Janet Grant (Professor of Education in Medicine at The Open University, FAIMER faculty member)

“Workplace Assessment”
John Norcini (FAIMER President and Chief Executive Officer)

“Structured Assessments of Clinical Competence”
Kathy Boursicot, Trudie Roberts, and Bill Burdick (FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute)

For more information, including a complete table of contents, please visit http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1405196807.html.

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2010 Medical Education Day at University of Michigan Medical School

(posted July 9, 2010)

FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute William Burdick, M.D., M.S.Ed., attended the University of Michigan Medical School’s Annual Medical Education Day on June 8, 2010, where he gave a presentation on the subject of capacity building in international health professions education. Dr. Burdick’s presentation focused on individual capacity building through active learning, and system capacity building through diffusion of information and leadership development; both are key aspects of developing health professions education around the world. While there, Dr. Burdick met with Larry D. Gruppen, Ph.D., Josiah Macy, Jr. Professor of Education and Chair, Department of Medicine; Joseph Kolars, M.D., Senior Associate Dean for Education and Global Initiatives; and Patricia Mullan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Medical Education, to discuss possible collaborations between FAIMER and the University of Michigan.

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Brazil-FAIMER Fellowship Recognized as Specialty Diploma in Health Professions Education

(posted June 17, 2010)

On May 31, 2010, the Universidade Federal do Ceará in Brazil accredited the Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute (Brazil-FRI) fellowship as a diploma course in education for the health professions. Fellows who complete the program and its evaluation requirements will be awarded the diploma by the university, which also supports the administration of the Brazil-FRI in Porto das Dunas. Fellows from previous Brazil-FRI classes who completed the fellowship will also be granted the diploma. The request for accreditation was announced to the 2010 class during the first residential session of the 2010 Brazil-FRI in January. Beginning with the 2010 class, Fellows will be required to write a manuscript for publication as part of the program.

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Marta van Zanten Wins RIME Outstanding Paper Award

(posted June 17, 2010)

FAIMER Research Associate Marta van Zanten, Ph.D. (cand.), is the recipient of the 2009 Research in Medical Education (RIME) Outstanding Paper Award for the paper, “Medical Education in the Caribbean: Variability in Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates Certification Rates and United States Medical Licensing Examination Attempts,” co-authored by FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources John Boulet, Ph.D. The award will be presented on November 9, 2010, at the RIME Invited Address session at the annual meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) in Washington, DC.

The paper is the result of research that investigated demographic characteristics and performance outcomes of physicians who received their undergraduate medical education in the Caribbean. The research included almost 20,000 students/graduates who registered for an exam leading to Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) certification. United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) attempts and ECFMG certification rates (from 1996 to January 21, 2009) were summarized by country of medical school. Results showed that the proportions of females and non-U.S. citizens attending medical schools in the Caribbean are increasing. Average exam attempts for certified individuals ranged, by country of medical school, from 1.19 to 2.84 for the USMLE Step 1 exam, from 1.20 to 2.13 for the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK) component, and from 1.01 to 1.42 for the USMLE Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) component and ECFMG Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA). Approximately 14,000 (74.2%) individuals achieved certification, and success rates ranged, by country, from 19.1% to 91.5%. These results highlight the significant variability in performance of Caribbean-educated physicians.

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14th Ottawa Conference on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions

(posted June 17, 2010)

The 14th Ottawa Conference on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions was held May 15–19, 2010, in Miami, Florida. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Ottawa Conference, which has been held biennially since 1985, when it was founded by Professor Ian Hart (Ottawa, Canada) and Professor Ronald Harden (Dundee, UK). To commemorate the anniversary, the conference program included a review of the progress that has been made over the past 25 years and explored trends and developments that may unfold over the next 25 years.

The conference was organized around the goal of producing a Consensus Statement and a set of Recommendations relating to six thematic areas within assessment of competence that could serve as a guide for all healthcare professionals. FAIMER President and CEO John Norcini, FAIMER Senior Scholar Dale Dauphinee, and FAIMER faculty members M. Brownell Anderson, Stewart Mennin, and Ara Tekian were all members of the conference Program Committee. Dr. Norcini also chaired one of the six themes, Criteria for a Good Assessment, and spent several months prior to the conference drafting the initial report to serve as the basis for conference work. The other thematic areas were Technology-based Assessment, Performance Assessment, Assessment of Professionalism, Assessment for Selection for Healthcare and Specialty Training, and Research in Assessment.

The 2010 conference in Miami drew more than 1,000 participants and featured eight symposia, more than 60 workshops, and hundreds of oral and poster presentations. FAIMER was well represented among these participants. Tejinder Singh, Director of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute, conducted a workshop on academic counseling that taught participants the basic skills required for a successful counseling session and helped them to develop qualities that are desirable in a counselor. Dr. Mennin delivered a keynote address, the Miriam Friedman Memorial Lecture, entitled “Culture, Pedagogy and Assessment: A View from the Bridge” at the closing plenary.

Following is a list of activities in which FAIMER staff and/or faculty (bold purple font) and FAIMER Fellows (bold blue font) participated.

Courses

AMEE Essential Skills in Medical Education (ESME) Course
Stewart Mennin and Teri McCarty

Fundamentals of Assessment in Medical Education (FAME)
Ann King and Jack Boulet (Course Co-Directors); Dale Dauphinee, Lesley Southgate, David Swanson, Ingrid Philbert, and André de Champlain (Course Faculty).

Exhibitor

Clinical Skills Evaluation Collaboration (CSEC)
Ann Jobe

Preconference Workshops

MiniCEX and DOPS – How do they work? When do they not work? How can we deal with problems? How do we achieve sustained success?
J. Norcini, R. Westkaemper, L. Fluit, O. ten Cate

Why and how should we evaluate the curriculum?
A. Tekian

Setting performance standards for simulation-based exercises
J. Boulet, D. Murray

Workshop

Academic counseling
T. Singh

Effectiveness and cost: how much should we spend on selection for specialty training?
C. Brown, H. Thomas, I. Davidson, J. Grant, T. Qui

Assessing the written communication skills of medical school graduates
T. Rebbecchi, J. Boulet

Theme Group Presentations

Criteria for good assessment
John Norcini (Group Leader), Brownie Anderson, Valdes Bollela, Vanessa Burch

Technology and assessment
Jack Boulet

Assessment for selection for the healthcare professions and speciality training
Ara Tekian

Research in assessment
Stewart Mennin

Symposium

Work-based assessment
Jim Crossley, Kevin Eva, Brian Jolly, John Norcini (Panelists)

Plenary

Miriam Friedman Memorial Lecture: Culture, pedagogy and assessment: a view from the bridge
Stewart Mennin

Oral Presentations

The PIL-project: teaching and assessing doctor/patient communication by designing patient information leaflets
R. Weiss

Timely feedback and OSCE: possibilities and meanings
V.R. Bollela, C. Rego, F. Neman, E. Dórea, J.L.M. Machado

Defining specific outcomes within a charter for medical professionalism
R. Delport, M. van Rooyen, C. Krüger, R.R. du Preez, G. Pickworth, I. van Huyssteen, I. Treadwell, M. Kruger

Reflexive portfolio: a tool to identify learning needs and promote critical appraisal?
M.L. Bourroul, S. Gannam, A.P.S. Ferrer, D. Scaramuzzi, D. Ballester

National Board Examination for Medical Doctor downgraded the accreditation status of medical school in Indonesia
I. Setiawan, S.P. Dewi, D. Agustian, T.H. Achmad

Comparison of blue-print and item-bank of National Examination of Medical Competency in Indonesia
S.P. Dewi, Setiawan, D. Agustian, T.H. Achmad, M. Ghozali, S. Wonodirekso, Yulherina, R. Wikenigrum

Medical education accreditation in Mexico: impact on student outcomes
M. van Zanten, D.W. McKinley, I. Durante

Clinical experiences and clinical skills examination performance
D. McKinley, A. Opalek

Gathering validity evidence for SAGAT and SPAM, two measures of situation awareness, during crisis situations in medicine
G. Chiniara, A. Tekian, S. Downing, C. Brailovsky, M. Lessard

Graduating Grant Recipient Program (PMG) on Clinical Pathology (CP): a successful pedagogical tool for improving learning and teaching abilities in the Medical School, UFMG, Brazil
T.F. Soares, E.N. Mendes, L.G. Viana, R.M.D. Faria, S.M. Elói-Santos, P.G. Vidigal, L.M. Resende, B. Resende, F.F.A. Santos, F.G. Machado, M.V.F. Floresta

Does the resident of pediatrics include the patient’s perspective? Audio-video recording of the consultation as a tool for the assessment of clinical competences
D. Ballester, S.M.C. Zuccolotto, S. Gannam, M.L. Bourroul, A.M.U. Escobar

Teaching professionalism in medical education and health care—is there a need? How do we achieve? A pilot study undertaken at DAPM RV Dental College, Bangalore, India
G. Bhagyalakshmi, K.S. Nagesh, Y.N. Rohini

Poster Presentations

Reflexive portfolio with feedback: developing the competence of the medical student for reflecting on their performance in clinical practice
S. Gannam, M.L. Bourroul, A.P.S. Ferrer, D. Ballester

International dimensions of assessment; and international medical graduates (IMGs)
Tejinder Singh (Session Chair)

Curriculum evaluation 1
Ara Tekian (Session Chair)

Effective feedback in clerkships
J. Bloomfield, C. Benaglio, A. Valenzuela

Project ECHO: a partnership between academic specialists and community providers that works
S. Arora, S. Kalishman, G. Murata, K. Thornton, M. Komaromy, C. Fassler, W. Pak, J. Brown

Policy and program development of the National Board Examination for Indonesian medical doctors
S. Wonodirekso, I. Setiawan, D. Agustian, M. Ghozali, S.P. Dewi, T.H. Achmad

A methodological proposal to stengthen students’ social and performance support
M.V.L. Vasconcelos, S. Grosseman, R.S. Rodarte

Curriculum content—epidemiology guiding its development and assessment
V.R. Bolella, S.R.P. Souza, J.L.M. Machado, J.E. Vieira

Changing course: what tips the balance? A case study
S. Kalishman, C. Timm, P. McGuire

Gathering stakeholders’ opinion about student assessment in the pediatric internship: lessons to be learned
S. Grosseman, D.O. Teixeira, V. Bollela, J.R. Boulet, S. Mennin

Changing medical students’ perceptions of their pharmacotherapeutic competencies: a “before” and “after” survey
E.N. Kwizera, N.B. Sathiakumar

All that an OSCE can tell
A. Valenzuela, J. Bloomfield

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11th Thai Medical Education Conference

(posted June 17, 2010)

The 11th Thai Medical Education Conference, “Globalization and Medical Education,” was hosted by the Faculty of Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, in Bangkok, Thailand, March 27-29, 2010. The conference provided an opportunity for participants to discuss medical education strategies and processes with a view toward improving healthcare services in South East Asia. The focus of discourse was on meeting the changing demands of today’s globalized society.

The conference was supported by the Consortium of Thai Medical Schools, the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), and by Chulalongkorn University. Attendees included WFME President Stefan Lindgren; members of the WFME Executive Council, including Chair of the FAIMER Board of Directors and Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) President Emmanuel G. Cassimatis; President of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Madalena Folque Patrício; President of the Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE) David Gordon; President of Chulalongkorn University Pirom Kamolratanakul; executive committee members of the South East Asia Regional Association of the World Federation for Medical Education (SEARAME), including PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute Director Thomas Chacko (PHIL 2004) and FAIMER faculty member Rita Sood (PHIL 2005); members of WHO; and delegates from Thailand. Executive-level meetings of both WFME and SEARAME were held in conjunction with the conference.

Among the numerous presentations given at the conference were the following key lectures:

Impact of Free Trade Agreement on Health Professional Education
Pirom Kamolratanakul, President, Chulalongkorn University

Roles of Medical Doctors towards the Next Decades
Stefan Lindgren, President, WFME

The Avicenna Directories for Medicine—Understanding the World’s Medical Schools
David Gordon, President, Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE)

The Bologna Process and Sharing Medical Education Resources
Madalena Patrício, President, Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE)

Public Health Role of Doctors in a Globalized World: A WHO Perspective
Myint Htwe, Director, Program Managment, WHO South East Asia Regional Office (SEARO)

The Global Environment of Health Professions Education—WHO Perspective (Building and Sustaining the Health Workforce: The Grand Challenges)
Dr. Maureen Birmingham, WHO Representative to Thailand

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4th Annual Stellenbosch University Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

(posted June 17, 2010)

On May 11 and 12, 2010, Stellenbosch University held its fourth annual Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, hosted by the university’s Centre for Teaching and Learning. The goal of the conference was to explore all facets of teaching and learning at Stellenbosch University in an “open, supportive, and intellectually stimulating atmosphere,” as well as to highlight the work of recipients of awards from the Fund for Innovation and Research into Learning and Teaching. Conference participants were encouraged to share best practices, research findings, and new ideas about teaching and learning; to engage in debate about teaching and learning methods, trends, and goals; and to celebrate teaching and learning at Stellenbosch.

Among the keynote speakers at the conference was Vanessa Burch (PHIL 2001), Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI) Co-director and Chair of Clinical Medicine at the University of Cape Town. Dr. Burch’s well-received address was entitled “The Scholarship of Teaching: My Own Experience.”

SAFRI 2009 Fellow Johan Dempers was awarded the prize for best presentation at the conference for his provocative work entitled “Hey Tarantino, Show Me Your Pituitary!” Juanita Bezuidenhout (PHIL 2005) was one of the co-authors. She was also a member of a plenary panel discussion on “New Frontiers: Taking Teaching Forward,” held at the end of the conference, and she gave an analysis of scholarship at the conference.

Other FAIMER and SAFRI fellows participating in the conference were Francois Cilliers (PHIL 2004), Alwyn Louw (SAFRI 2008), and Ben van Heerden (PHIL 2006).

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Fellows and Faculty Working on Some “Really Good Stuff”

(posted May 25, 2010)

The May 2010 issue of Medical Education contains the latest collection of “Really Good Stuff,” a peer-reviewed compilation of short, structured reports, published semiannually, on new ideas in medical education, including curriculum design, teaching practice, and assessment. Included in the current issue are eight reports on the innovation projects of 2008 FAIMER Institute Fellows. Following are all reports by FAIMER Fellows (bold blue font) and faculty (bold black font):

“Teaching Anatomy with Digital Self-learning Modules”
Ashwini C. Appaji (PSG 2008), Roopa Kulkarni, Anupama Poojar, Kalaivani Vinayagam

“Needs Assessment as a Strategic Planning Tool”
Payal K. Bansal (PHIL 2007), Savita Marathe (GSMC 2008), Prakash M. Shere, Mrudula A. Phadke

“Developing a Web-based Multiple-choice Question Item Bank”
S. Ayhan Çaliskan (PHIL 2008), H. Ibrahim Durak, S Elif Törün, Ö. Sürel Karabilgin

“Epidemiology Training Needs Assessment in Vietnam”
An T. M. Dao (PHIL 2008), Le T. Huong, Huy V. Nguyen, Luu N. Hoat

“Mentored Student Project for Inculcating Research Skills”
Vasudha Devi, Reem R. Abraham (PSG 2007), Sachidananda Adiga, Ramnarayan Komattil

“Optimising Feedback Using the Mini-CEX during the Final Semester Programme”
Sari P. Dewi (PHIL 2008), Tri H. Achmad

“Structuring an Internship Programme for Enhanced Learning”
Harpreet Kapoor (CMCL 2006, PHIL 2008), Ara Tekian, Stewart Mennin

“Student Learning Experiences in a Diversified Academic Environment”
Dianne Manning (PHIL 2008), Danette McKinley, Shalote Chipamaunga

“Utilising Assessment as a Drive for Changing Teaching”
Valéria G. F. Pinheiro, Elcineide S. Castro, Luiz E. A. Troncon

“Academic Counselling for Undergraduate Medical Students of Pharmacology”
Anupama Sukhlecha (CMCL 2008)

“Improving Assessment of Evidence-based Medicine Skills in Medical Students”
John Tumbo (PHIL 2008)

“Using Positive Deviance to Improve Student Performance”
Zareen Zaidi (PHIL 2008), Tara Jaffery (PHIL 2005), Shaheen Moin

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2010 FAIMER Institute Fellows Announced

(posted May 25, 2010)

The 2010 FAIMER Institute will begin in Philadelphia, starting October 3. The following individuals have been selected to participate:

Bipin Batra, M.B.B.S., National Board of Examinations, New Delhi, India

Solomon Worku Beza, M.D., M.P.H., Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia

Sucheta Dandekar, M.Sc., Ph.D., Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai, India

Dina El-Metwally, M.B.Ch.B., M.Sc., Ph.D., Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt

Teresa Fortoul, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, México City, México

Abdul Hanif, M.B.B.S., M.S., Dhaka Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Zhimin Jia, M.D., Ph.D., Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Andres Maturana, M.Sc., Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile

Ciraj Ali Mohammed, M.B.B.S., M.Sc., Ph.D., Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India

Pitiyage Perera, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., University of Ruhuna, Galle, Sri Lanka

Bo Qu, M.D., M.Sc., China Medical University, Shenyang, China

Riffat Shafi, M.B.B.S., Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan

Marco Sosa, M.D., M.P.H., Fundación Universitaria San Martín, Bogotá, Colombia

Vadlamannati Srinivas, M.B.B.S., M.D., Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, India

Ileogben Sunday-Adeoye, M.B.B.S., M.Sc., Ebonyi State University, Abakaliki, Nigeria

Sevgi Timbil, M.D., Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Izmir, Turkey

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Suez Canal University Medical Education Department Receives Leadership and Management Award

(posted May 25, 2010)

Management Sciences for Health (MSH), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of the world’s neediest countries by helping managers and leaders improve health services, announced in March the recipients of its annual Leadership and Management Awards for 2010. Receiving the third-place award was the Medical Education Department of the Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University in Ismailia, Egypt, under the directorship of 2007 FAIMER Institute Fellow Wagdy Talaat. The Leadership and Management Awards are given annually to managers and teams of organizations that work to improve the health of their communities, and who demonstrate measurable and compelling results in overcoming challenges related to organizational improvements and services.

As Founding Chair of the Medical Education Department, Dr. Talaat helped to establish the department’s two distance-learning programs: the Diploma of Health Professions Education (DHPE), which was planned by Dr. Talaat during his FAIMER fellowship, and the Joint Master of Health Professions Education (JMHPE), which is administered in collaboration with Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The DHPE began in 2008 and is a national program open to health professionals in Egypt; the JMHPE began in 2005 and is an international program open to health professionals throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region. Alumni of both programs include presidents of universities, deans and vice deans of medical, dental, pharmaceutical, and nursing schools, as well as department chairs, and other educators.

Dr. Talaat says that he is proud of the international recognition that the Medical Education Department has received but knows that there is still much work to be done. He and his team envision qualifying 5% of all health professions educators in Egypt through the DHPE within the first five years of the program. The JMHPE is one of the largest programs of its kind in the world, but there are countries in the region that need additional help. To encourage participation from faculty in under-resourced countries, such as Yemen, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Morocco, funding is provided by both Suez Canal University and the World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO).

For more information on the 2010 Leadership and Management Awards and awardees, log into the MSH website and visit the Leadership and Management Awards page (http://leadernet.msh.org/page.cfm?c1=534&nav=410).

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12th International Medical Education Conference Held in Argentina

(posted May 25, 2010)

The XII Jornadas Internacionales De Educación Médica (12th International Medical Education Conference) took place April 19-20, 2010, at the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources John Boulet and FAIMER Research Associate Marta van Zanten spoke at the conference, along with Tony Errichetti of the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute faculty member Luiz Ernesto de Almeida Troncon of the Universidade de São Paulo in Brazil. The main focus of the conference was the use of clinical simulations in medical assessment. Presentations were given on scoring performance based assessments, basic psychometrics, assessing communication skills, formative assessment and feedback issues, and best practices in standardized patient assessments. The conference was organized in part by Ana Lía Vargas (PHIL 2001) of the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, and was well attended by faculty from the university and other medical schools in Argentina and Chile.

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GSMC- and PSG-FAIMER Regional Institutes Add Residential Session to Fellowship Program

(posted May 25, 2010)

The PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute and the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute have added a third residential session to their fellowship programs. Prior to the change in the programs, Fellows participated in only two residential sessions, consisting of highly interactive educational activities, occurring at the beginning of each of the two years of their fellowship program. Fellows now are invited to return for a third residential session at the end of the two years to report on the progress of their innovation projects and to celebrate completion of the fellowship program with a graduation ceremony. Since the final session will coincide with the second residential session for the succeeding class of Fellows, graduating Fellows will also have the opportunity to view the poster presentations and learn about developments in the innovation projects of the Fellows they helped mentor.

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NCHPE 2009 Website Updated

(posted May 25, 2010)

The website of the National Conference on Health Professionals’ Education, held in December 2009 in Pune, India, has recently been updated to include photos, presentations, an abstract book, and posters from the conference. Please visit http://www.nchpe.in/ to learn more about the conference and view the new material.

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Access to On-line Health Care Services and Systems Resource Free to Latin America and the Caribbean

(posted May 10, 2010)

Through the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), free access to the Cochrane Library—a preeminent repository of research on the efficacy of health interventions—is available to individual users in Latin America and the Caribbean region. Versions in English and Spanish are available through the global Virtual Health Library portal at http://www.bvsalud.org.

The Cochrane Library comprises more than 4,000 systemic reviews intended to serve as resources to inform public policy, financial and technological evaluations, clinical guidelines, and supporting clinical decisions. The scientific evidence pertains to policies, programs, and practices aimed at improving health care systems and services. The library is intended for all users, from patients and the general public to health professionals and regulatory authorities.

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International Journal of Medical Education (IJME)

(posted May 10, 2010)

The International Journal of Medical Education (IJME) is a new open-access, peer-reviewed, scientific journal promoting the exchange of knowledge among medical professionals in all domains of medical and clinical education and practice worldwide. IJME publishes research papers, review articles, short communications, and letters to the editor, and strives to present a variety of approaches to medical education from different cultures and perspectives. One particular aim of the journal is to provide a forum for authors whose first language is not English.

FAIMER faculty member Janet Grant and Fellow P. Ravi Shankar (PSG 2007) serve on the editorial board of IJME. Dr. Shankar also published an editorial letter in Volume 1 entitled “Sir Robert Hutchison’s Petition and the Medical Humanities.”

For more information on the International Journal of Medical Education or to register to submit work for publication, visit www.ijme.net.

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Advances in Medical Education and Practice

(posted May 10, 2010)

A new open-access, peer-reviewed journal, currently in development, aims to publish research articles on a broad array of topics in health professions education, including medical, dental, and nursing education. Advances in Medical Education and Practice (working title) plans to cover emerging trends around the world as well as curriculum development and evaluation, teaching methodologies, student assessment, and continuing professional development and training for educators, among other topics.

Three FAIMER Fellows sit on the Honorary Editorial Board of the newly formed journal: Gboyega Ogunbanjo (PHIL 2007), Co-Director of the Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute and Professor and Head of the Family Medicine and Primary Health Care Department at the University of Limpopo in South Africa; Rita Sood (PHIL 2005), Professor of Medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in India; and Wagdy Talaat (PHIL 2007), Professor and Head of the Medical Education Department at Suez Canal University in Egypt.

For more information on Advances in Medical Education and Practice, please visit www.dovepress.com/advances-in-medical-education-and-practice-working-title-journal. Author guidelines and tools for submitting a manuscript for publication are available on the website. Questions can be sent to Angela Jones, Dove Medical Press Ltd., at angela@dovepress.com.

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PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute 2010

(posted April 23, 2010; updated May 10, 2010)

The first residential session of the 2010 PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute took place April 24-30, 2010, in Coimbatore, India, under the direction of Thomas Chacko. The 2010 PSG-FAIMER Fellows are:

Brogen Akoijam, M.D., Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, India

Smitha Bhat, M.B.B.S., M.D., Father Muller Medical College, India

Niranjan Gummaraj, M.B.B.S., M.D., Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India

Samuel Hansdak, M.B.B.S., Christian Medical College, Vellore, India

Nandita Hazra, M.B.B.S., M.D., Armed Forces Medical College, India

Anand Kukkamalla, M.Sc., Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India

T. Mahalakshmy, M.B.B.S., M.D., Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital, India

Chetna Maliye, M.D., Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha, India

Thomas Mathew, M.B.B.S., M.D., Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, India

Sarala N., M.B.B.S., M.D., Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College, India

Sudha Ramalingam, M.B.B.S., M.D., PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India

Latha Ravichandran, M.B.B.S., Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, India

Narasimman Swaminathan, M.P.T., Father Muller Medical College, India

Renu Varghese, M.B.B.S., M.D., Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India

Prashant Vishwanath, M.D., J.S.S. Medical College, India

Bhadresh Vyas, M.B.B.S., M.D., M.P. Shah Medical College, India

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Data Exchange to Provide FAIMER with Information on International Medical Schools

(posted April 23, 2010)

FAIMER has begun to receive information from international medical schools that will allow it to enhance its web-based resources on international medical education. Included is information about each school’s student body, application requirements, medical curriculum, and teaching methods. This information will provide a more detailed picture of international medical schools and their graduates, allowing FAIMER to expand data resources, such as the International Medical Education Directory (IMED), and to further its research on international medical education programs.

International medical schools are providing this information as part of an agreement with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG®). According to the agreement, schools that provide such information will be able to obtain from ECFMG aggregate data on the performance of their students/graduates on Step 1, Step 2 Clinical Knowledge (CK), and Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) of the United States Medical Licensing Examination® (USMLE®). International medical schools have expressed interest in obtaining USMLE performance data on their students/graduates, and it is expected that this exchange of information will benefit the medical schools, ECFMG, and FAIMER. FAIMER research staff are partnering with ECFMG to collect the medical school information via a Medical School Profile survey.

Eligible schools will be able to obtain aggregate USMLE performance data beginning in May 2010. Schools wishing to receive these data must meet certain criteria, including the completion of a Performance Information Agreement and the Medical School Profile survey.

In addition to its plans to provide aggregate data, ECFMG began to provide eligible international medical schools with performance data on individual examinees in late 2009. For more information on the provision of individual performance data, refer to “ECFMG to Provide International Medical Schools with USMLE Performance Data on Their Students/Graduates” on the News page of the ECFMG website.

Officials of international medical schools can obtain a Performance Information Agreement by contacting the ECFMG Medical School Web Portal (EMSWP) Administrator at emswpadmin@ecfmg.org.

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FAIMER Fellows to Participate in Educational Leadership Program at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden

(posted April 23, 2010)
Yuvaraj Bhosale
(GSMC 2008)
Animesh Jain
(PSG 2008)
Michan Malca
(PHIL 2008)
Himanshu Pandya
(CMCL 2007)
Supten Sarbadhikari
(PSG 2007)

Five FAIMER Fellows have been selected to participate in “Leading for Change in Health Professions Education,” an international program to be held May 17-20, 2010, at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Yuvaraj Bhosale (GSMC 2008) from Seth G.S. Medical College in India, Animesh Jain (PSG 2008) from Kasturba Medical College in India, Michan Malca (PHIL 2008) from the Universidad Científica del Sur in Peru, Himanshu Pandya (CMCL 2007) from Pramukhswami Medical College in India, and Supten Sarbadhikari (PSG 2007) from the PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in India are among the 10 health professions educators invited to take part in the program. Yuvaraj Bhosale and Michan Malca were both awarded scholarships to the program.

“Leading for Change in Health Professions Education” is a highly interactive program that focuses on educational leadership by individuals within the broader context of medical education curriculum changes. Case studies are used to provide real-world examples of successful leadership change. Participants have the opportunity to learn how to master tools for curriculum planning, analyze stakeholders’ interests and agendas, identify their own leadership style within their organization, and enhance their organization’s capacity for implementing educational reform. The program is taught by leading international health professions educators, including FAIMER Fellow Rita Sood (PHIL 2005).

The Karolinska Institutet is a world leader in health professions education and the only university in Sweden specializing in health professions education and research. The university is also home to the Nobel Assembly that awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine each year.

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FAIMER International Faculty Member at The Open University Awarded Funding to Train Doctors in Ethiopia

(posted April 23, 2010)

The Open University (OU) in the United Kingdom has been awarded funding to work with the Distance Learning Medical Centre (DLMC) program in Ethiopia. The program, led by FAIMER international faculty member Professor Janet Grant (Director of the Centre for Education in Medicine at OU) and Professor Mike Stewart (OU Faculty of Science), will train doctors specifically for practice in areas of the country that currently have limited medical provision.

Ethiopia has a severe shortage of doctors. Currently around 95% of medical students emigrate after qualifying, leaving fewer than 700 doctors in the public sector to serve the country’s population of 80 million. The DLMC will assist the Ethiopian government to achieve its target of producing 11,000 additional doctors. Funding has been generously provided by The Open University alumni and by Ethiopiaid, a charitable organization dedicated to improving conditions in Ethiopia by fighting poverty and poor health, and by improving education. The funding will enable the development of a distance learning component to support the existing integrated curriculum at St. Paul’s Millennium Medical School in Addis Ababa, which opened in 2008.

The DLMC program includes basic science and clinical training, as well as community experience. It will produce doctors with the competence to practice without supervision in a rural setting. Students studying the program have been selected not only for their academic ability but also for their motivation to remain in Ethiopia once they qualify.

Open education and distance learning have enormous potential to allow Ethiopia to expand its medical training rapidly despite a shortage of trainers. It also offers a cost-effective and efficient way of delivering a high-quality medical curriculum that meets World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) Global Standards for medical schools. This model of learning can also be used to support skills development and further the training of medical staff already working in the field in remote and rural areas.

The DLMC program is designed to develop distance learning systems and materials that can also be applied to other schools in similar situations. Dr. Grant hopes that FAIMER Fellows from other parts of Africa will be involved in the project.

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2010 Medical Education Meeting Held at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

(posted April 23, 2010)

More than 570 faculty from medical schools in México attended the 2010 Medical Education Meeting (Jornadas de Educación Médica 2010) held February 10-12 at the Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, in México City. The subject of the meeting was “Competency Based Education: Paradigm Change” (“Educación por Competencias: Cambio de Paradigma”) and several FAIMER Fellows and faculty members participated as presenters. International speakers John R. Boulet, Ph.D., FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources; Debra K. Litzelman, M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine; Elizabeth Morrison, M.D., M.S.Ed., of the University of California, Irvine; and Geoff Norman, Ph.D., of McMaster University, shared their knowledge and experience. In particular, Dr. Boulet spoke on “Standard Setting for Performance-Based Assessments.” FAIMER Fellows Andrea Dávila-Cervantes (PHIL 2009), Irene Durante (PHIL 2008), Ivan Solarte (PHIL 2007), and Astrid Valenzuela (PHIL 2007) presented thirteen 2008 FAIMER Fellows’ posters and organized a forum promoting FAIMER.

Pre-conference workshops began on February 10 and included topics such as standard setting for performance based assessments, teaching for transfer of learning, residents as teachers, analysis of competencies and curriculum, and an introduction to virtual classrooms using the Moodle platform. Presentations on February 11-12 spanned a variety of subjects, including: “Use of Simulators in Assessment of Medical Competencies,” “Implementation of Competency Based Medical Curriculum,” “Development of Medical Clinical Reasoning Competency,” and “Teaching to Teach Medical Students: Why, When and How?” In total, there were 71 oral presentations and 63 posters presented during the conference.

Please see the conference program for more information. For poster summaries, please see pages 60-71 (Items FAR.1 through FAR.12) of “Resúmenes de trabajos libres en cartel” (PDF).

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International Health Professions Education Conferences to be held in México

(posted April 23, 2010)

The Asociación Mexicana de Facultades y Escuelas de Medicina, A.C. (AMFEM) invites health professions educators from around the world to participate in the 2nd International Congress on Medical Education and the 1st International Congress on Medical Education Simulation, to be held concurrently, May 31-June 4, 2010, in Cancún, México. The combined conferences will focus on the impact of globalization on medical education and address topics such as teaching methods, evaluation, research, continuing education, academic mobility, and health professions employment issues, including the migration of health care workers. For more information, please visit the conference website.

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Register Now for Distance Learning Modules in Medical Education

(posted April 13, 2010; updated May 10, 2010)

There is still time to register for Organizing a Self-Review, a distance learning module in medical education offered through FAIMER and The Open University Centre for Medical Education (OUCEM) in the United Kingdom. The module began on Monday, April 19. Registration is also open for Gathering, Analyzing and Presenting Evidence for Self-Review, which is scheduled to begin on July 5. The cost of each module is $85.00 US and space is limited.

These modules are the second and third in a series of eight modules on the theme of “Self-review and Accreditation,” developed by FAIMER in collaboration with OUCEM and the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME). The first module, Standards for Medical Education, began on February 1, 2010. Feedback on the first module has been very positive, and participants are recommending the modules to colleagues and associates. One participant enthused that distance learning has been a great experience and that she is learning new things daily.

Each module takes approximately one hour per week for 10 weeks. Modules can be downloaded or used on-line. Participants are provided with materials and supporting documentation, as well as access to an on-line discussion forum. A learning advisor is assigned to each participant to stimulate and discuss progress. Participants are expected to complete two one-hour assignments (within the 10-hour allocation) for which they will receive marked feedback.

Visit The Open University-FAIMER-WFME Distance Learning Modules in Medical Education page to register or to learn more. If you have any questions, please e-mail inquiry@faimer.org.

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FAIMER Fellows Collaborate to Conduct Faculty Development Workshops

(posted March 30, 2010)

During February and March, FAIMER Fellows conducted a number of health professions education workshops covering topics that ranged from microteaching to organizing a medical education unit. Fellows, some collaborating cross-institutionally, networked and supported one another to conduct workshops for medical education faculty in the clinical, basic, and community health sciences departments at several schools.

The Medical Education & Technology (MET) Unit of the N. K. P. Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre in Nagpur, India, recently conducted an interactive, two-day workshop on problem-based learning for 20 faculty members. Fellows Rashmi Vyas (PHIL 2003) from Christian Medical College, Vellore, and Anshu (CMCL 2007, PHIL 2009) from Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Sewagram, each led sessions, and Shubhada Anant Gade (CMCL 2010) participated in the workshop. Suresh Chari (GSMC 2009), Director of Research and the MET Unit, reported that participants gave positive feedback and expressed excitement about implementing what they had learned.

Patan Academy of Health Sciences (PAHS) in Kathmandu, Nepal, recently conducted a three-day core faculty development workshop. Session topics included preparing oral presentations and course materials, student feedback and assessment, standards setting, microteaching, and problem-based learning. This was PAHS’s first faculty development workshop conducted entirely by in-house faculty, with Fellows Shital Bhandary (PSG 2008) serving as course director, and Shambhu Upadhyay (GSMC 2009) and Babu Raja Maharjan (CMCL 2010) serving as resource persons. Twenty faculty members from clinical specialties and basic and community health sciences participated. PAHS plans to conduct the workshop biannually and make attendance mandatory for all new faculty members.

The Medical Education Unit (MEU) at Sri Ramachandra University and Medical Centre is a designated Regional Center for approximately 30 medical colleges in the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) nationwide faculty development program. The MEU recently conducted a four-day workshop for 23 medical education unit coordinators from across the region. The highly interactive course used adult learning principles and practical workshop sessions with case scenarios. Phagalvarthi Vasudevan Vijayaraghavan (CMCL 2010), Dean of Education at Sri Ramachandra University, led a session on change management. Other session topics included learning styles and group dynamics, organizing a medical education unit, taxonomy, goals and educational objectives, teaching-learning methods and media, microteaching, small and large group teaching, student assessment, objective structured clinical and practical examinations (OSCE and OSPE), and professionalism. Rashmi Vyas also attended this workshop, serving as a resource person and observer.

The Medical Education Teaching & Technology (METT) Unit at Topiwala National Medical College in Mumbai, India, conducted a three-day, faculty development workshop for 26 faculty members from both clinical and para-clinical departments at the college. Sessions focused on educational objectives, microteaching, OSCE and OSPE, audiovisual aids, and multiple choice question (MCQ) formulation, among other topics. Participants reportedly praised the interactivity and diversity of methods used to structure the sessions, and said they developed useful skills for the teaching-learning process. Ten of the 21-member METT Unit committee are FAIMER Fellows: Sunita D. Deshpande (GSMC 2005), Sarita D. Fernandes (GSMC 2005), Bachi T. Hathiram (GSMC 2007), Anuradha M. Kanhere (GSMC 2005), Sunita Koutarapu (GSMC 2005), Vrinda K. Kulkarni (GSMC 2007), Jayashri Pandya (GSMC 2009), and Henal Shah (GSMC 2006, PHIL 2008) from Topiwala National Medical College; Ashwini Karve (GSMC 2006) from Seth G.S. Medical College; and Vinaya Shah (GSMC 2007) from B.Y.L. Nair Charitable Hospital.

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Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI) 2010

(posted March 30, 2010)

The first residential session of the 2010 Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI) took place March 3-9, 2010, in Cape Town, South Africa, under the direction of Vanessa Burch and Gboyega Ogunbanjo. The 2010 SAFRI Fellows are:

Susan Achora, B.Sc., M.Sc., R.N., Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda

Tahra Al-Mahdi, M.B.B.S., M.Sc., Ahfad University for Women, Omdurman, Sudan

Melanie Alperstein, B.Soc.Sc., Nursing PG Dip., University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Alan Barnard, M.B.Ch.B., M.Phil., University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa

Hoffie Conradie, M.B.Ch.B., M.Med., Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

Hester Julie, M.P.H., R.N., University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

Solomon Lubinga, M.Sc., B.Pharm., Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda

Farai Madzimbamuto, M.B.Ch.B., M.Med., University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana

Clemence Marimo, D.D.S., M.Ch.D., University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia

Sindisiwe Mthembu, M.D., University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa

Ismat Mutwali, M.B.B.S., M.D., Alzaeim Alazhari University, Khartoum, Sudan

Catherine Mwesigwa, B.D.S., Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Scovia Nalugo, B.Sc., M.Sc., D.P.P.M., Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda

Carmen Oltmann, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa

Angelika Reinbrech-Schutte, M.B.Ch.B., M.Med., University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa

Michael Rowe, B.Sc., M.Sc., University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa

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Postgraduate Medical Education Project Launched

(posted March 5, 2010)

FAIMER’s newest data resource, the Postgraduate Medical Education (PME) Project, is now available on the FAIMER website. Developed in partnership with the European Medical Association (EMA), the PME Project is a web-based directory describing postgraduate medical education programs worldwide. It provides information, at the country level, on formal medical education and clinical training beyond the basic medical school curriculum, including the duration of studies, trainee selection processes, specialty curricula and licensing authorities, areas of specialization, and regulations regarding specialty education and licensure/certification. The PME Project is intended to be a resource for those who want to learn about postgraduate medical education internationally. It will be especially valuable to those who wish to evaluate, compare, and contrast postgraduate training programs among countries. To learn more about FAIMER’s data resources, please visit our Data Resources page.

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Fellows Contribute to 47th Brazilian Congress on Medical Education (COBEM)

(posted March 5, 2010)

Seventy-five Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute (Brazil-FRI) and FAIMER Institute Fellows plus 13 faculty members took part in the 47th Brazilian Congress on Medical Education (COBEM), held October 17-20, 2009, in Curitiba, Brazil. The conference, whose theme was “The Brazilian Health System (SUS) as a School,” drew more than 2,700 participants.

Involved in nearly every aspect of the conference, FAIMER Fellows assisted in the initial planning phases, sat on the scientific and financial committees, and reviewed 1,640 abstracts. Eliana Amaral (PHIL 2003), Co-Director of Brazil-FRI, reported that Fellows and faculty gave 35 oral presentations, presented 88 posters, conducted 24 scientific sessions, including courses, workshops, and forums, and staffed a FAIMER information booth during the four-day conference.

Patricia Tempski, a 2008 Brazil-FRI Fellow, served as the president of COBEM, which is organized by the Brazilian Association of Medical Education (ABEM). In fact, five of the eight regional boards organized under ABEM have a Fellow currently serving as president or vice-president.

COBEM 2010 will be held October 31-November 3, 2010, in Goiânia, and the Brazil-FRI community is already heavily involved in the planning and organization. With the addition of the 2010 class, Brazil-FRI Fellows are 101 strong, assuring that they will continue to play an important role in COBEM and in the future of health professions education in Brazil.

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Academic Medicine Celebrates Flexner Report Centenary

(posted March 5, 2010)

The year 2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the publication of the Flexner Report (Medical Education in the United States and Canada: A Report to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching), Abraham Flexner’s seminal critical assessment of standards and practices in medical education. Flexner’s report led to widespread reform and laid much of the groundwork for health professions education today. To both celebrate the centenary of the Flexner Report and examine its influence on contemporary theory and practice, Academic Medicine has devoted its February 2010 issue to the report’s legacy—the successes it has engendered, its relevance today, and the challenges yet to be overcome. In a broader sense, the issue seeks to look back at health professions education’s past in an effort to see its future. As Dr. Richard B. Gunderman explains in his Foreword to the issue, an “overarching theme in this collection is the creative tension between continuity and change. To be faithful to the spirit of Flexner’s work, we must not only re-examine the questions he presented but also pose new ones that he could not have foreseen. These articles invite us to ponder both types of questions.”

Included in the special issue are two articles authored by FAIMER staff and Fellows (to view the abstract for each article, click on its title):

“Relevance of the Flexner Report to Contemporary Medical Education in South Asia”
Zubair Amin, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore
William P. Burdick, FAIMER Associate Vice President for Education and Co-Director of the FAIMER Institute
Avinash Supe (PHIL 2002), Director of the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute
Tejinder Singh (PHIL 2003), Director of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute

“Flexner’s Global Influence: Medical Education Accreditation in Countries that Train Physicians Who Pursue Residency in the United States”
Marta van Zanten, FAIMER Research Associate
John R. Boulet, FAIMER Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources
Frank Simon, FAIMER Senior Scholar

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FAIMER Fellows Lead Faculty Development Workshop at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College

(posted March 5, 2010)

The Regional Center for Faculty Development at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Datta Megge Institute of Medical Sciences (Deemed University) in Wardha, India, conducted its 2nd Basic Course in Medical Education Technologies, a faculty development workshop held December 21-23, 2009. FAIMER Fellows Nitin Gaikwad (GSMC 2009), Alka Rawekar (CMCL 2009), Jayant Vagha (CMCL 2009), and Sunita Jayant Vagha (CMCL 2010) all led sessions, along with other members of the Datta Megge Institute faculty. Twenty-five health professions education faculty members from the state of Maharashtra participated in the workshop, which was convened by Sunita Jayant Vagha. Workshop sessions included teaching and learning processes, the systems approach, educational objectives, interpersonal skills, microteaching, group dynamics, giving feedback, adult learning, multiple choice questions, and objective structured clinical and practical examinations (OSCE and OSPE).

The 2nd Basic Course in Medical Education Technologies continued the Regional Center’s ongoing training efforts as part of the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) nationwide faculty development program. The Regional Center was established on July 1, 2009, and the 1st Basic Course was conducted July 1-3. In addition to the Basic Courses, the Center is also conducting a meeting of coordinators of the medical education units of its 30 affiliated colleges on March 7. The goal of the meeting will be to provide guidance and support to the colleges and to arrange to conduct basic workshops at each of the schools.

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2010 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute Awarded CME Credit Hours by Punjab Medical Council

(posted March 5, 2010)

The Punjab Medical Council has announced that Fellows participating in Sessions 1 and 2 of the 2010 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute will be eligible for 20 and 14 continuing medical education (CME) hours, respectively. This is the first time that CME credit hours will be awarded to participants in the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute by the Punjab Medical Council, which requires that 50 CME hours be completed every five years for renewal of license to practice medicine. The decision is noteworthy because it is indicative of the fact that medical education is being considered on par with other clinical disciplines, according to CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute Director Tejinder Singh.

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2010 Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute

(posted February 19, 2010; updated March 5, 2010)

The first residential session of the 2010 Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute took place January 18-28, 2010, in Porto das Dunas, Ceará, Brazil, under the direction of Eliana Amaral and Henry Campos. The 2010 Brazil-FAIMER Fellows are:

Denise Herdy Alfonso, M.D., M.Med., Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Maria Teresa Seabra Soares de Britto Alves, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luis, Brazil

João Henrique Lara Amaral, D.D.S., M.Sc., Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Maria Cristina Andrade, M.D., Ph.D., Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Denise Ballester, M.D., Ph.D., Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Palmira de Fátima Bonolo, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto, Brazil

Luisa Patricia Fogarolli Carvalho, M.D., M.Sc., Universidade José do Rosário Vellano, Alfenas, Brazil

Maria Selma Neves Costa, M.S., Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, Brazil

Rosângela Minardi Mitre Cotta, M.S., Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Gisele Regina de Azevedo, M.S., Ph.D., R.N., M.S.N., Pontificia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, Sorocaba, Brazil

João Carlos de Miranda, M.Sc., Faculdade de Medicina de Petrópolis, Petrópolis, Brazil

Roberto Zonato Esteves, M.D., Ph.D., Universidade Estadual de Maringá, Maringá, Brazil

Oscarina da Silva Ezequiel, M.D., Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

Maria Lucia da S. G. Jorge, M.Sc., Ph.D., Faculdade Evangélica do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil

Adroaldo Baseggio Mallmann, M.D., M.Sc., Universidade de Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

Victor Hugo Melo, M.D., M.Sc., Sc.D., Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Sônia Regina Middleton, M.Sc., Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Wagner José Martins Paiva, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Brazil

Ana Débora Santana, M.D., M.Sc., Universidade Federal de Sergipe, Aracaju, Brazil

Ana Teresa Rodrigues de Abreu Santos, M.D., M.P.H., Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, Brazil

Neuci Cunha Santos, M.S., Ph.D., R.N., Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Brazil

Maria Helena Seabra Soares de Britto, B.S., B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., Universidade Federal do Maranhão, São Luis, Brazil

Ricardo Sukiennik, M.D., Ph.D., Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, Brazil

Gerlinde Agate Platais Brasil Teixeira, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., Universidade Federal Fluminense, Niteroi, Brazil

Neiva Francenely C. Vieira, B.S., M.Ed., Ph.D., R.N., Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza, Brazil

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2010 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute

(posted January 8, 2010; updated January 25, 2010; March 30, 2010)

The first residential session of the 2010 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute took place January 12-18 in Ludhiana, India, under the direction of Tejinder Singh. The 2010 CMCL-FAIMER Fellows are:

Sanam Anwar, M.B.B.S., M.D., D.N.B. (Social and Preventive Medicine), Oman Medical College, Muscat, Oman

Preeti Bajaj, M.B.B.S., M.D., Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, India

Palash Das, M.B.B.S., M.D., D.P.H., Midnapore Medical College, Midnapore, India

Shubhada Anant Gade, M.B.B.S., M.D., D.G.O., N.K.P. Salve Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Nagpur, India

Atul Goel, M.B.B.S., M.D., Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India

Shyamala Handattu Hande, B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D., Melaka Manipal Medical College, Manipal, India

Mohammed Ahmed Hassanien, M.S., M.Ed., Ph.D. (Clinical Biochemistry), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Anil Kapoor, M.B.B.S., M.D., People's College of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Bhopal, India

Anisha Kellogg, M.B.B.S., M.D., Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India

Tamkin Khan, M.B.B.S., M.D., Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh, India

Dinesh Kumar, M.B.B.S., M.D., Government Medical College, Jammu, India

Sarabmeet Singh Lehl, M.B.B.S., M.D., Government Medical College, Chandigarh, India

Babu Raja Maharjan, M.Sc. (Medical Biochemistry), Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal

Dipta Kanti Mukhopadhyay, M.B.B.S., M.D., Bankura Sammilani Medical College, Bankura, India

Ramesh Kumar Narula, M.B.B.S., M.S., D.Ortho., Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital, Bareilly, India

Rana Arun Gopal Krishan Pal, M.D., Genesis Institute of Dental Sciences and Research, Ferozepur, India

Mugdha Potnis-Lele, Ph.D., Maharashtra University of Health Sciences Regional Centre, Pune, India

Punita Salwan, M.S., Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Science and Research, Amristar, India

Sunita Jayant Vagha, M.B.B.S., M.D., Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Wardha, India

Phagalvarthi Vasudevan Vijayaraghavan, M.B.B.S., D.Ortho., D.N.B.Ortho., M.Ch. (Orthopedics), Sri Ramachandra University and Medical Centre, Chennai, India

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Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators Call for Papers

(posted February 19, 2010)

The Journal of the International Association of Medical Science Educators (JIAMSE) is currently seeking monographs, full-length research manuscripts, and short papers dealing with the education of medical professionals and innovations in medical education. JIAMSE is a peer-reviewed, electronic publication that covers a broad array of topics in medical science education. In addition to research papers, the journal publishes information on scholarly activities, announcements, editorials, and opinion pieces. If you would like to submit a manuscript or serve as a reviewer, please contact Uldis N. Streips, Ph.D., Editor-in-Chief, at unstre01@louisville.edu.

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National Conference on Health Professionals’ Education Held in Pune, India

(posted January 25, 2010)

Approximately 250 health professionals from the fields of medicine, dentistry, physiotherapy, and nursing, as well as ayurveda and other Indian systems of health care, gathered in Pune, India, December 10–13, 2009, to attend the second biennial National Conference on Health Professionals’ Education (NCHPE). The conference was organized by the Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS) Department of Medical Education and Technology, and was supported by FAIMER and the Office of the Health Attaché of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Representative for South Asia, as well as various health professions agencies and institutions throughout India. The first national conference on medical education was held in New Delhi in 2007.

The theme of the conference was “Good Teaching Practices: Sharing Best Practices in Teaching-Learning and Assessment.” Objectives included:

FAIMER Institute and Regional Institute faculty, FAIMER Fellows, and several other international faculty led poster sessions, presented research, and led workshops. Intensive workshops were conducted on assessment, research and publication, curriculum development and evaluation, communication and ethics, adult learning, the use of simulation in teaching, and distance learning. Sixty-five abstracts on innovations in health professions education were presented at interactive poster sessions.

FAIMER President and CEO John Norcini delivered a plenary address on “The future of assessment in medical education,” and conducted a practicum on “Workplace-based assessment.” Associate Vice President for Research and Data Resources Jack Boulet presented on “The challenges of using simulation in medicine,” and conducted a workshop on “Setting performance standards for simulation-based exercises.” Associate Vice President for Education Bill Burdick presented a plenary address on “Capacity building in the health professions” and presented a workshop on adult learning.

By all accounts, NCHPE 2009 was a resounding success and a testament to the growth of health professions education in India. Other FAIMER Fellows and staff who served as NCHPE 2009 faculty included: Anshu (CMCL 2007, PHIL 2009), Shubhada Aphale (CMCL 2006), Dinesh Badyal (CMCL 2007, PHIL 2009), Payal Bansal (PHIL 2007), Sanjay Bedi (CMCL 2007), Director of the PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute Thomas Chacko (PHIL 2004), Shubha Chandorkar (CMCL 2006), Chetna Desai (CMCL 2007), Venkatesh Doreswamy (PHIL 2007), FAIMER faculty member Janet Grant, Arun Jamkar (PHIL 2004), FAIMER faculty member Medha Joshi, Mrunal Ketkar (CMCL 2007), Gagandeep Kwatra (CMCL 2006), Savita Marathe (GSMC 2008), FAIMER faculty member Nima Rege, Ranjana Sahasrabude (PSG 2009), Vivek Saoji (PHIL 2003), Supten Sarbadhikari (PSG 2007), FAIMER faculty member Mary Beth Scallen, Henal Shah (GSMC 2006), Director of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute Tejinder Singh (PHIL 2003), Rita Sood (PHIL 2005), Director of the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute Avinash Supe (PHIL 2002), Rashmi Vyas (PHIL 2003), and Anand Zacharaiah (PHIL 2001).

NCHPE 2009 participants have been added to the health professions education listserv that was started after the 2007 conference. The listserv is open to all health professions educators. If you are interested in joining, please send a blank email to meu_india-subscribe@googlegroups.com.

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UpToDate International Grant Subscription Opportunity

(posted January 25, 2010)

The Global Health Delivery Project and electronic medical information provider UpToDate are offering a new grant subscription program to qualifying clinicians and organizations. A limited number of complimentary, one-year subscriptions to UpToDate, a leading evidence-based and peer-reviewed clinical information resource, will be awarded in two rounds in February and May 2010.

The internationally focused grant program extends eligibility to individuals and organizations that provide medical care or related services to poor or underserved populations outside the United States. The deadlines for application are January 25 and May 3, 2010, respectively.

For complete details on application and eligibility, please visit http://www.ghdonline.org/uptodategrant/.

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The Open University-FAIMER-WFME Distance Learning Modules in Medical Education Available in Early 2010—Reserve Now

(posted December 9, 2009; updated January 14, 2010)

FAIMER, in collaboration with the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and The Open University Centre for Education in Medicine (OUCEM) in the United Kingdom, has produced a series of distance learning modules in medical education. The first four will become available in 2010:

Each course takes approximately one hour per week for 10 weeks. The modules can be downloaded or used on-line. Participants will be provided with course materials and supporting documentation, as well as access to an on-line discussion forum. A learning advisor will be assigned to each participant to stimulate and discuss progress. Participants will be expected to complete two one-hour assignments (within the 10-hour allocation) for which they will receive marked feedback.

At the end of each module, participants will receive a certificate that can be used as evidence of continuing professional development (CPD). In time students will be eligible to use this certificate as credit for a practice-based CPD certificate course at The Open University.

The cost of each module is US$ 85. You can purchase the modules by visiting the distance learning page of this website. If you would like further information, please e-mail OUCEM at oucem@open.ac.uk, or call +44 (0)1908 653776. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis until the start date of each of the modules.

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[last update: June 30, 2011]