Chapter 1 1. The globalization of healthcare delivery and international dimensions of medical education 2. A reconceptualization of the role of the doctor and recognition of the importance of learning outcomes in defining the curriculum for training an appropriate workforce 3. The changing context in which clinical experience is gained 4. The continuing developments of new learning technologies and their influence on teaching and learning 5. An evolving conceptualization of assessment and its role in medical education 6. The recognition of professionalism and scholarship in medical education As these topics have continued to be discussed in the literature and in conference proceedings, a number of comments can now be made on each of them. Countries in need of international support can be identified by their position on the spectrum of socioeconomic development in relation to their child mortality, family size and economic growth. The associated healthcare problems (which can be compounded by physician migration to employment in westernized urban centres) may be helped by international agencies or resources committed to facilitating local opportunities for medical education. The Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER) and its regional institutes support medical teachers through their fellowship training scheme. The World Federation for Medical Education (WFME) and the Panamerican Federation of Associations of Medical Schools (PAFAMS) exert an international influence in needy areas and the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) provides a wealth of printed resources and an annual international conference attracting more than 3000 delegates from over 100 countries. At the AMEE 2009 conference in Malaga, Matthew Gwee led a symposium discussing the international role of medical education in seeking to inculcate and nurture the hitherto overlooked professional qualities of compassion, empathy and integrity and their contribution to developing a sense of social responsibility. ‘New models of international collaboration’ was the theme for a plenary session at AMEE 2011 in Vienna. A resource which seeks to promote this is the newly relaunched website MedEdWorld, which provides a transnational collaborative learning approach with access to an e-library, synchronous online webinars and asynchronous discussion groups. The success of outcome-based education (OBE) in defining a new medical school curriculum at the University of Wollongong was described by Elizabeth Farmer at the AMEE 2010 conference in Glasgow. At the same conference, Stefan Lindgren, President of WFME, described how OBE also provides a mechanism for directing the training of other healthcare professionals and for meeting the educational requirements perceived necessary for the future global doctor. Competence-based education was the theme of the August 2010 issue of Medical Teacher. The expanding implementation of rural and remote medical education (RRME) in the undergraduate curriculum has been reviewed in AMEE Guide 47 (Maley et al 2009). A review of the current literature on ambulatory care education looked at the research and scholarship in this area and commented on key challenges and examples of good practice (Williams et al 2012). A rare example of a developing ambulatory care teaching programme was presented from the University of Otago, New Zealand, at AMEE 2011 in Vienna. Patient-focused simulation by the use of hybrids, part simulators appropriately attached to a simulated patient, to create a realistic clinical situation has been reported by Roger Kneebone at AMEE 2009 in Malaga. At the same conference the role of distributed simulation whereby portable, lightweight and inexpensive equipment is used to recreate key elements of a clinical setting in a cost-effective way, was illustrated by the creation of a simulated operating theatre in the conference venue.
New horizons in medical education
Recent topics in medical education
Globalization of healthcare delivery and international dimensions of medical education
Reconceptualization of the role of the doctor and the importance of learning outcomes in defining the curriculum for training an appropriate workforce
The changing context in which clinical experience is gained
New learning technologies
New horizons in medical education
“MedEdWorld is an international health professions community of individuals and educational organisations.”
“Doctors may not need in the future to undertake all their traditional roles, while other new roles may emerge instead.”
“Competency based medical education offers great promise as a means of addressing the needs of society, assuring competent practitioners, and emphasising the acquisition of skills, attitudes, and knowledge and their application to real-world practice.”
“The goal of global equity in health care requires that the training of health-care professionals be better tuned to meet the needs of the communities they serve.…medical education is being driven into isolated communities by factors including workforce undersupply, education pedagogy, medical practice and research needs…. RRME harnesses the rich learning environment of communities such that students rapidly achieve competence and confidence in a primary care/generalist setting.”
“When there’s not much you can do, this is something you can do.”
“It appeared to be a good idea at the time but….”
