WCM-Q hosts global forum on innovations in medical education

January, 2015

Medical and educational experts from all over the world convened in Doha for the Innovations in Global Medical and Health Education (IGMHE) Forum, hosted by WCM-Q.

The forum, held on January 18, brought together some of the world’s foremost authorities on medical education and medical practice with practicing healthcare professionals and researchers to share their expertise and discuss the opportunities presented by a wide range of innovations related to medical education, assessment, licensing, and program accreditation.

The international gathering featured a series of presentations by expert speakers who are engaged in endeavors to help establish international standards for the practice of medicine, and provided a platform for debate on both evolutionary and disruptive innovations that have the potential to transform medical education in the region and beyond. Work being conducted at WCM-Q and with multiple regional collaborators that will move education and training in the region forwards was also presented to delegates.

The forum, which was coordinated by WCM-Q’s Division of Continuing Professional Development, is an event of the Innovations in Global Medical and Health Education Journal, an open-access web-based publication issued by Bloomsbury with the support of Qatar Foundation.

The co-editors in chief of the journal are Dr. Javaid Sheikh, dean of WCM-Q, and Dr. Victor J. Dzau, president of the U.S.-based Institute of Medicine and chancellor emeritus for health affairs and James B. Duke Professor of Medicine at Duke University, both of whom were in attendance at the event. During the forum, the journal’s editorial board met with His Excellency Abdulla Bin Khalid Al Qahtani, Minister of Public Health at the Supreme Council of Health, to discuss avenues for continued collaboration.

Dr. Thurayya Arayssi, WCM-Q’s associate professor of medicine and associate dean for continuing professional development, said: “The extremely rapid pace of change in technology and medical education curricula make it very difficult for working healthcare professionals to stay up-to-date with the latest innovations in medical practice and training. The IGMHE Forum provides a valuable space for interaction between healthcare professionals from different disciplines, different countries and different stages of their careers.

“In this way, the forum helps to break down all those barriers that usually separate us and provides an opportunity to build networks, discuss the impact of new innovations and gain a shared perspective of the very latest and best practices in healthcare education and practice for the benefit of students, educators, healthcare professionals and, of course, patients.”

The IGMHE Forum, held at the Four Seasons Hotel, is aimed at a wide and inclusive audience, drawing together primary care and specialty physicians, as well as nurses, physician assistants, interns and residents, researchers, educators, and other allied health professionals who are interested in innovations and the future development of global medical and health education.

Dr. Sheikh, dean of WCM-Q, said: “The forum was designed to provide a highly interactive environment in which physicians, healthcare providers and leading medical education professionals from the GCC region and the wider world can meet, share ideas and forge new and fruitful partnerships to drive the field of medical education forwards.

“As the pace of change becomes ever faster, we cannot afford to stand still, but must instead embrace the opportunities offered by innovation and international collaboration to ensure we continue to meet the standards of excellence in medical education and practice that students and patients expect and deserve.”