FAIMER is pleased to announce the 2014 recipients of the International Fellowship in Medical Education (IFME):
Dinesh Badyal, M.B.B.S., M.D., Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India
Sanjay Bedi, M.B.B.S., M.D., Maharishi Markandeshwar Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Haryana, India
Ricardo Borda, M.D., Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia
Sucheta Dandekar, Ph.D., Seth G.S. Medical College, Mumbai, India
Minnie Kalyanasundaram, M.B.B.S., M.D., Christian Medical College, Vellore, India
Riffat Shafi, M.B.B.S., Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad, Pakistan
All six Fellows will pursue a Master’s Degree in Health Professions Education: Accreditation and Assessmentthrough the FAIMER-Keele Distance Learning program beginning in September 2014.
Dr. Badyal is a 2011 Fellow of the FAIMER Institute and a 2007 Fellow of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute, as well as current Co-Director of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute. He is Professor and Head, Department of Pharmacology, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana; and Co-Convener of the Medical Council of India Nodal Centre for Faculty Development. Dr. Badyal was recently awarded an M.L. Gupta award by the Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India for the year 2012 for his work in medical education. He is on the editorial board of a number of journals and has delivered a number of lectures on clinical trials, pharmacovigilance, ethics, research methodology, and medical education at national and international conferences and workshops. He senses a great potential and usefulness of the FAIMER-Keele Master’s degree program for the mandate of his school and Government regulating agencies, as both are very actively involved in the development of health professionals in India.
Dr. Bedi is a 2007 Fellow of the CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institute. He is a Professor of Pathology at MM Institute of Medical Sciences, Ambala, India, with 18 years of teaching experience. He moderates meu_india@googlegroups.com and many other medical networks. Dr. Bedi is interested in promoting e‑learning and hopes to use his IFME fellowship to leverage the knowledge and networks achieved to make a difference nationally and globally towards improving the health standards in contemporary medical scenarios.
Dr. Borda is a 2008 Fellow of the FAIMER Institute. He is an Associate Professor at the School of Medicine of Javeriana University and also an Ob/Gyn. He is responsible for the Medical Informatics Project, which includes the design of databases, multimedia, virtual patients, and interactive web projects. Dr. Borda believes that the FAIMER-Keele Master’s degree program will allow him to collaborate extensively in the development of the FAIMER Regional Institute in Latin America and the Caribbean (FRILA); the design, implementation, and assessment of a new curriculum; and the development of continuing medical education (CME) courses in health professions education.
Dr. Dandekar is a 2010 Fellow of the FAIMER Institute. She is Professor and Head of Biochemistry at Seth G.S. Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai, India. She is an active faculty member of the PSG FAIMER and GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institutes. Dr. Dandekar says that the nuances of medical education have always intrigued her. She believes that the knowledge gained from the IFME fellowship will help to enhance her role at each and every level of medical education, and that it will also help her to be a good mentor. She looks forward to disseminating the knowledge gained to not only faculty and students at her own institute and university, but also to other aspiring FAIMER Fellows.
Dr. Kalyanasundaram is a 2010 Fellow of the GSMC-FAIMER Regional Institute. She is a Professor of Biochemistry and a senior member of the Medical Education Unit, which is a Medical Council of India Nodal Centre for basic and advanced medical education technology workshops at Christian Medical College, Vellore (CMC Vellore). She is a faculty member of the PSG-FAIMER CMCL-FAIMER Regional Institutes, and the Faculty Advisor for Elective and Exchange students at CMC Vellore. Dr. Kalyanasundaram has also served as a visiting professor at Karolinska University in Stockholm, Sweden through a teacher exchange program. She is on faculty for the Postgraduate Diploma in Family Medicine and Fellowship in HIV medicine, which are two-year distance learning programs offered by CMC Vellore. Her interests are in evaluation of educational programs, curriculum design, distance learning programs, and assessment. She hopes that an IFME fellowship leading to a Master’s in Health Professions Education will enable, support, and empower her in educational research and initiate, motivate, and sustain best practices in medical education at her institution and nationally.
Dr. Shafi is a 2010 Fellow of the FAIMER Institute. She has been involved in medical teaching since 2000. She is a Physiologist by specialty and is currently working as an Associate Professor at Shifa College of Medicine in Islamabad, Pakistan. Dr. Shafi has attended various regional and international conferences and workshops on medical education, and has published articles in scholarly journals. A desire to further improve her knowledge in the field of medical education encouraged her to apply for the IFME fellowship. She explains that Pakistan is a developing country where expertise in the field of medical education is needed, and says that she hopes to improve her knowledge and skills in this field and work toward the implementation of modern trends in medical education in her country.
