News
- 13th Ottawa International Conference on Clinical Competence (MAY 6, 2008)
- 2008 FAIMER Institute Fellows Announced (APR 30, 2008)
- The Network: Towards Unity for Health to Hold International Conference in Chia-Bogotá, Colombia, September 27 - October 2, 2008 (APR 30, 2008)
- 2008 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute (APR 30, 2008)
- FAIMER Regional Institute Applications (APR 30, 2008)
- 2008 PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute (APR 30, 2008)
- 2008 Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (APR 30, 2008)
- New AMEE Guide Series (APR 23, 2008)
- 2008 Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute (MAR 17, 2008)
- CMCL Hosts First Regional Institute Faculty Development Workshop (FEB 22, 2008)
13th Ottawa International Conference on Clinical Competence
The 13th Ottawa International Conference on Clinical Competence was held March 5-8, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia. Australians, famous for their ubiquitous slang, call their country “Oz,” and therefore this conference has from the initial planning stages affectionately been referred to as “Ozzawa.” Melbourne, pronounced “Mel-bin” by the locals, is the capital of the state of Victoria and is situated on the picturesque tree-lined banks of the Yarra River. Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city with a unique balance of graceful old and new architecture surrounded by parks and gardens.
The conference was organized by three overarching and interacting themes: The Life of the Patient, The Life of the Professional, and The Life of the Program. The scientific program was large and varied, and included six renowned invited speakers, 17 pre-conference workshops, more than 450 oral presentations, 26 symposia, 29 workshops, and 300 posters.
FAIMER was well represented at the conference. Dr. John Norcini presented a short communication overview of an assessment of FAIMER education programs entitled Evaluation of an International Education Leadership Fellowship Program and participated as a speaker in two symposia: Reporting the UK Foundation Assessment Programme and Novel Assessments and Services for Medical Schools, Students and Professionals: A Perspective from Several Organizations. Dr. Norcini also co-conducted two workshops: Mini-CEX – How it Works in Surgery? Is it a General Method for Work Based Assessment? and Medical Education Databases. Dr. John Boulet presented a full-length paper entitled Setting Performance Standards for Mannequin-Based Acute-Care Scenarios: An Examinee Centered Approach. FAIMER and the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) organized a symposium entitled International Recognition and Accreditation of Medical Schools’ Programmes. As part of this symposium, Marta van Zanten presented on Gathering Accreditation Data: The FAIMER Directory of Organizations that Recognize / Accredit Medical Schools. Dr. Norcini moderated this symposium, which also contained presentations by WFME, the Australian Medical Council, and Harbin Medical University in China.
In addition to these presentations by FAIMER staff, Mobeen Iqbal, FAIMER Institute class of 2007, of Shifa College of Medicine in Pakistan, gave two presentations, Medical Students’ Perceptions of Teaching Evaluations and Health Related Quality of Life in a Pakistan Medical School; and Enoch Kwizera, FAIMER Institute class of 2007, of Walter Sisulu University in South Africa, co-authored the poster Evaluating Students' Generic Learning Skills Early in their Undergraduate Careers – Valuable for Course Organisers?.
The "Ozzawa" conference, the first Ottawa conference to be hosted in Australia, was an excellent opportunity for FAIMER to present its work to an international audience. Additional information can be found on the conference website.
2008 FAIMER Institute Fellows Announced
Sixteen international health professions educators who represent academic institutions from 13 countries around the world have been selected as Fellows of FAIMER Institute 2008. Fellows will begin their program by traveling to Philadelphia to attend the fellowship’s three-week session one, which begins on October 5, 2008.
The FAIMER Institute fellowship program is designed for international health professions educators who have the potential to play key roles at their schools. The program serves two main purposes, to: (1) provide participants with the tools and skills to serve as resources for their individual institutions and (2) create an environment for cross-cultural exchange of educational expertise and experiences. The ultimate goal is to improve the health of local communities by improving health professions education programs. The program will help Fellows develop curricula appropriate to their own schools and communities.
At the end of October, the incoming Institute 2008 Fellows will be joined by returning Institute 2007 Fellows as they complete their final residential session. When the 2008 Fellows complete their final residential session next year, they will meet the incoming Institute 2009 Fellows. These opportunities for interaction between classes of Fellows support the development of a community of international health professions educators dedicated to the improvement of health professions education and the health of their communities.
The FAIMER Institute 2008 Fellows are:
María Bernadá, M.D., Universidad de la República, Uruguay
Elaine Bezerra, M.D., Ph.D., Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Ricardo Borda, M.D., Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Colombia
Suleyman Ayhan Caliskan, Ph.D., M.D., Ege Universitesi, Turkey
An Dao, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.D., Hanoi Medical University, Viet Nam
Sari Dewi, M.D., M.H.P.E., Universitas Padjadjaran, Indonesia
Coralie Therese Dimacali, M.D., University of the Philippines Manila, Philippines
Irene Durante, M.D., M.B.A., Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico
Jorge Garcia, M.Sh., Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Argentina
Harpreet Kapoor, M.S., M.B.B.S., Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India
Dianne Manning, Ph.D., M.Ed., University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Ramalingam Sankaran, M.D., PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India
Henal Shah, M.B.B.S., D.P.M., M.D., Topiwala National Medical College, India
John Tumbo, M.B.Ch.B., M.Med., M.C.F.P., University of Limpopo, South Africa
Eskinder Weldetensaye, M.D., Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Zareen Zaidi, M.B.B.S., M.D., Foundation University Medical College, Pakistan
The Network: Towards Unity for Health to Hold International Conference in Chia-Bogotá, Colombia, September 27 - October 2, 2008
The 2008 conference of The Network: Towards Unity for Health will be held in Chia-Bogotá, Colombia, from September 27 to October 2, 2008, in cooperation with the Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Sabana, Colombia. The theme of the conference is “Adapting Health Services and Health Professions Education to Local Needs: Partnerships, Priorities and Passions.” The Network states that the primary goal of the conference is to analyze and discuss how health systems, services, and health professions education adapt and readapt to the local needs of populations according to the historical, political, and cultural influences they receive over time.
The Network invites abstracts containing empirical, theoretical, or descriptive studies relevant to the field, as well as proposals for mini-workshops and/or didactic sessions. The deadline for abstracts and proposals is June 1, 2008. For detailed information on the 2008 conference, visit www.the-networktufh.org/conference/.
2008 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute
Fellows and faculty of the 2008 CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute
(click images to enlarge)
On January 16, 2008, the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (CMCL) welcomed a new class of 16 Fellows at the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute. Fellows learned about a variety of teaching techniques for medical education such as the one-minute preceptor (OMP) and the mini clinical examination (mini-CEX) and worked extensively with faculty advisors on their own curriculum innovation projects. After an intensive four days, they were joined by the returning class of 2007 Fellows for a two-day combined program. The two classes converged with Mentor-Learning Web assignments and celebrated their new relationships by exchanging co-mentoring bracelets. The 2008 class presented their project plans followed by the 2007 group’s poster presentations on their completed projects. When the 2008 Fellows returned to their home institutions to begin implementing their projects, the 2007 class remained for an additional two-day program to further their knowledge and skills in research, scholarship, and sustaining change.
The hard work of participants was interspersed with a varied program of social and recreational activities. Highlights included a bonfire dinner with traditional dancers in glorious costumes providing entertainment, a day trip to the Golden Temple of Amritsar, and the sunset ceremony at the Indian-Pakistani border. Fellows and faculty alike will have wonderful memories of these experiences.
Director Dr. Tejinder Singh was ably assisted in the organization and presentation of the institute by a talented team of local faculty at CMCL, including Drs. Dinesh Badyal, Jugesh Chhatwal, Harpreet Kapoor, Gagandeep Kwatra, and Sheena Singh. They were joined by a number of visiting Indian and international faculty, as well as a guest observer from Bangladesh, Dr. Anwarul Azim of the Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College in Dhaka.
The following is a list of participating 2008 Fellows:
Sheikh Sajjad Ahmed, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Sukhlecha Anupam, M.P. Shah Medical College, India
Sattar M. Bhatti, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India
Anurag Chaudhary, Dayanand Medical College, India
Kalyan Goswami, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Maya Arun Jamkar, B.J. Medical College, Pune, India
Navneet Kaur, University College of Medical Sciences, India
Manjit Mohi, Government Medical College, Patiala, India
Syed Ziaur Rahman, J.N. Medical College, Aligarh, India
Praveen R. Singh, Pramukhswami Medical College, India
Suman P. Singh, Pramukhswami Medical College, India
A.M. Siraj, Melaka Manipal Medical College, India
S. Sitalakshmi, St. John’s Medical College, India
Bharathi Subramaniam, Sikkim Manipal Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Gadicherla Suman, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, India
Bharti Uppal, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India
FAIMER Regional Institute Applications
Applications for the FAIMER Regional Institutes are available on the FAIMER website. Interested applicants may apply for any of the Regional Institutes during their respective open application periods. The on-line application for the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute will be available from June 15 to October 15, 2008. This on-line application process assigns applicants a user ID, enabling them to save and return to a partially completed application; check the status of a submitted application; update a previous application for another submission; and perform other application management functions.
2008 PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute
The 2008 PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute began on April 16, 2008 at PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Coimbatore, India. The following is a list of participating 2008 Fellows:
Ashwini Appaji, M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, India
Shital Bhandary, Patan Academy of Health Sciences, Nepal
Komaladevi Sampath Damodar, Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, India
Mangala Charana Das, NRI Medical College, India
Anthony David, Deccan College of Medical Sciences, India
Amol Donge, Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Animesh Jain, Kasturba Medical College, India
Feroze Kaliyadan, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Gopalakrishnan Muhammad, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India
Chitra Nagaraj, Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Kathamuthu Padmavathy, AIMST University, Malaysia
Baranitharan Ramamoothy, PSG College of Physiotherapy, India
Logeswari Selvaraj, Theni Medical College, India
Sundarakumar Sundarajan, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India
Satish Sylvester, PSG Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, India
Nirmala Thangavelu, PSG College of Nursing, India
2008 Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute
The newest addition to the family of FAIMER Regional Institutes, the Southern Africa-FAIMER Regional Institute (SAFRI), was launched in mid-February. SAFRI, FAIMER’s first regional initiative on the continent of Africa, is piloting a program configuration that includes three residential contact sessions over the course of the two-year fellowship. The second residential session will take place in June of this year, and the third will take place in March 2009. In addition to participants from medical schools, the inaugural SAFRI class includes representatives from schools of physiotherapy, nursing, dentistry, public health, and laboratory sciences. Two of the Fellows are from Uganda and one is from Zambia, with the rest from South Africa. The same interactive teaching methods used at other Regional Institutes were used in South Africa, with great success. Faculty at the February session of SAFRI included seven FAIMER Fellows. Five additional FAIMER Fellows will participate as faculty at the June session.
The following is a list of participating SAFRI Fellows:
Gerda Botha, University of Limpopo, South Africa
François de Villiers, University of Limpopo, South Africa
Wilma de Witt, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Christian Ezeala, Kampala International University, Uganda
Jose Frantz, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
Alwyn Louw, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
Lastina Lwatula, Ministry of Health, Zambia
Samuel Maling, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda
Karien Mostert, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Gloria Mtshali, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Nirmala Naidoo, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Franciscus Peters, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Glynis Pickworth, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Saraswathi Singaram, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Anna Voce, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
Firdouza Waggie, University of the Western Cape, South Africa
New AMEE Guide Series
Ronald M. Harden, M.D., General Secretary of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), recently announced the launch of a new AMEE Guide Series. Dr. Harden is also Editor of Medical Teacher and Director of Education for the International Virtual Medical School.
This new series currently has two publications: one on peer-assisted learning by Michael Ross and Helen Cameron (Medical Teacher, 2007, 29: 527-545) and the other on work-based assessment by John Norcini, Ph.D., President and CEO of FAIMER; and Vanessa Burch, M.B.Ch.B., M.Med., Ph.D., core faculty member of the FAIMER Institute and 2001 FAIMER Institute Fellow (Medical Teacher, 2007: 855-871). To access the new guide series, click here.
2008 Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute
Twenty-five new Fellows were added to the ranks of the Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute, as the second year of the program got underway. When last year’s Fellows returned to work with the new Fellows, the assembled group of 50 became the largest FAIMER Regional Institute overlap session to date. An educator from the medical school in Angola was funded by the Ministry of Health to observe the program. Feedback from participants, as well as local and international faculty, indicates that the three-week program was a tremendous success. During the overlap period, one day was devoted to a National Medical Education (NME) event, which strategically focused on collaboration between the Association of Brazilian Medical Schools (ABEM), the Ministry of Health, and the Brazil-FAIMER Regional Institute.
The following is a list of participating 2008 Fellows:
Cláudia Márcia Barreto, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Brazil
Vera Therezinha Medeiros Borges, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil
Izabel Cristina Meister Coelho, Faculdade Evangélica do Paraná, Brazil
Paulo José Medeiros de Sousa Costa, Universidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas, Brazil
Carla Rosane Ouriques Couto, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas da Paraíba , Brazil
Lucélio Bernardes Couto, Universidade de Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Regina Maria Lugarinho da Fonseca, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Rosa Malena Delbone de Faria, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil
Maria José Salles de Farias, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Brazil
Luiz Roberto de Oliveira, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil
Maria Viviane de Vasconcelos, Universidade Federal de Alagoas, Brazil
Patricia Tempski Fiedler, Faculdade Evangélica do Paraná, Brazil
Vera Lúcia Garcia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Brazil
Suely Grosseman, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil
Marina Romanello Joaquim, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil
Carlos Alberto Lazarini, Faculdade de Medicina de Marília, Brazil
Valéria Menezes Peixeiro Machado, Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil
Francisco das Chagas Medeiros, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil
Edna Regina Pereira, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Brazil
Valéria Góes Ferreira Pinheiro, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil
Mariangela Cainelli de Oliveira Prado, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil
Marcelo da Silva Sechinato, Faculdade de Medicina de Itajubá, Brazil
Valquiria de Lima Soares, Universidade Estadual de Ciências da Saúde de Alagoas, Brazil
Luiz Fernando Farah Tofoli, Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil
Maria José Pereira Vilar, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
CMCL Hosts First Regional Institute Faculty Development Workshop
In August 2007, the Directors and key faculty members of FAIMER’s five Regional Institutes came together in Philadelphia for the first time for a five-day Directors and Faculty of FAIMER Regional Institutes (DAFFRI) program that included strategic planning activities and teaching skills development sessions. One of the outcomes of this meeting was a decision and an action plan to provide further faculty development opportunities in the regions. The first realization of this goal took place in December 2007 at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (CMCL) in India.
Director of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute, Tejinder Singh, and his team initially planned a one-day workshop to provide opportunities for teaching practice and constructive feedback to session presenters from the faculties of any of the FAIMER Regional Institutes in India. However, the idea generated so much interest that the format was expanded to give other faculty who had not previously been exposed to a FAIMER program an opportunity to participate. A total of 33 faculty members from six medical schools enrolled in the workshop, 11 of whom presented teaching practice sessions on topics from the regional institute curriculum over the course of two days.
Throughout the sessions, presenters made deliberate attempts to showcase a number of adult learning principles and interactive teaching techniques. Methods employed included a variety of discussions, role-plays, and group work formats. The scope of the feedback covered not only the presentation skills of the session leader but also the syllabus, reading materials, and visual aids that accompanied the presentation.
Director Tejinder Singh commented that he was particularly impressed by the superb time management that characterized the execution of the program, as it finished exactly on time at the end of the second day. According to Tejinder, this remarkable achievement had nothing to do with the planned shopping excursion immediately following the workshop. The event was such a great success that CMCL is already planning an encore faculty development workshop for the spring of 2008.