Former IFME Fellow Medha Joshi Reports on International Conference on Medical Education

Medha Joshi, B.Sc., M.D., M.H.P.E.
Director, MEC, HOD Pharmacology
M.S. Ramaiah Medical College
Bangalore, India

As noted in the October 11, 2006 issue of FAIMER MedEd, the International Conference on Medical Education was held in Bangalore, India, from January 26 to 28, 2007. The following was submitted by Medha Joshi, a 2000-2001 FAIMER IFME Fellow, who served as the secretary of the conference’s organizing committee:

We express our sincere thanks to FAIMER for its wholehearted support and encouragement in the conduct of the International Conference on Medical Education at M.S. Ramaiah Medical College, Bangalore, by giving coverage for the event in your e-newsletter.

The consultation workshop on the 26th of January 2007 was attended by over 50 medical educationists from India and abroad. A wide range of topics was discussed, with emphasis on community-oriented teaching, integrated teaching and distance learning in medical education.

The International Conference held on the 27th and 28th of January 2007 was a resounding success, according to feedback from the participants. The conference was well attended, with a total of 185, 15 of whom were from outside India. There was a series of invited lectures, panel discussions, and paper and poster presentations. Relevant topics like innovations in teaching and learning methods, innovative curricula in health professions education, student assessment, developing a research culture, and programme evaluation were discussed in detail. The delegates had ample opportunities for interactions. There were 50 resource persons for the consultation workshop and the conference from different parts of India and six from countries outside India; five of the resource persons were fellows of FAIMER Institute, Philadelphia.

The long felt need for networking among medical educationists was given utmost priority by organizing a session to work out the modalities. Dr. S. Kumar, Dean & Principal of M.S. Ramaiah Medical College welcomed the idea of networking and assured a seed money for this initiative. Initially it was decided to network medical educationists in India but it later extended to all over the world. It was decided to set up a consortium of medical educationists. An ad hoc committee was formed to work out the modalities and go ahead with the process of networking.

The Conference banquet and dinner was arranged at Hotel Atria. The delegates appreciated the initiative of the Medical Education Cell of M.S. Ramaiah Medical College in organizing the conference and expressed the need to have such conferences on a regular basis for meaningful interaction and updating the knowledge about developments in medical education.

To commemorate this important event, a souvenir containing the invited articles, guest lectures, and abstracts of the presentations was released.

We look forward to your continued support and encouragement in all our future endeavours in furthering the cause of medical education.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Medha Joshi, B.Sc., M.D., M.H.P.E.
Secretary, Organizing Committee

In February 2000, Medha was awarded a fellowship in the International Fellowships in Medical Education (IFME) program administered by the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). The transfer of the program to FAIMER was completed in 2003.

Medha spent her six-month fellowship in the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois at Chicago studying student assessment, competence assessment, theories and models of program evaluation, and faculty assessment. After a brief return to M.S. Ramaiah Medical College in Bangalore, India, she returned to the University of Illinois at Chicago to complete her Masters in Health Professions Education program in 2005.

Medha continues her relationship with FAIMER as a faculty member of the PSG-FAIMER Regional Institute in Coimbatore, India.