ICME-2015 - Riphah University puts Pak medical education on regional map

RIU goes the extra mile for bridging gap in standard of medical education existing between the developed and the underdeveloped countries and thus its initiative puts Pak Medical Education on Regional Map

Mavens of medical education will have brainstorming sessions to explore best pedagogical skills, develop most modern curricula, implement innovations and best pedagogical skills, inculcate ethics and professionalism among medical students and professionals and maintain excellence by building a culture of educational scholarship and research, etc.

KARACHI: A four-day International Conference on Medical Education (ICME) will commence on Oct 15 at Istanbul’s Halic Congress Center under the aegis of Pakistan’s premier private university - Riphah International University (RIU). The moot will continue until Oct 18. Medical News is the media partner of the event.

It would be the fourth international conference of Riphah International University as prior to this, the university that has grown enormously since its inception, had completed a hat-trick of its conferences by convening them at Islamabad, Dubai and Mauritius.

One of the pioneers in initiating reforms in Medical Education, Riphah International University established Riphah Academy for Research and Education in 2006.

The project is spearheaded by Prof. Dr Masood Anwer as Dean and Project Director under the able leadership of Mr Hasan Khan, Pro Chancellor RI. Hassan Khan is the brains behind this milestone event. The forthcoming event will have a dedicated session on “Journey of Medical Education of Pakistan” as well as the stakeholders’ meeting of leaders in medical education from Pakistan and experts belonging to 32 countries.

Riphah International took the initiative of convening an International Conference on Medical Education in consultation with world leading experts in Medical Education when they visited Riphah Academy for Research and Education in 2009.

Highlighting the aims and objectives of the ICME and the Academy’s mission, Asadullah Khan, Executive Director RIU and a visionary leader, told Medical News that it is aimed at providing a credible and convincing platform to the world’s leading experts on Medical Education and Educators, particularly from South Asia, Middle East and Africa so that they could adopt recent innovations and standards in medical education.

“In fact, the move behind this gigantic exercise is to bring product of the participating countries’ institutions on a par with the product of the institutions of the developed countries,” he added.

Moreover, the other objectives of the ICME include maintaining excellence by building a culture of educational scholarship and research, inculcate ethics and professionalism among medical students and professionals, explore and implement innovations and best practices for pedagogical skills, develop curricula based on most modern educational standards and learning strategies and to share and learn from leading medical, health and education experts, he explained.

Mr Asadullah Khan said that the Riphah’s mission is to promote the positive aspects of this beautiful country as he always believes in putting the best foot forward. Accompanied by Dr Zakiuddin Ahmed, an icon of healthcare sector and, who is also playing an active role in promoting the ICME, Mr Khan said that these conferences will serve their purpose when this initiative will be able to bridge the gap of standard of medical education between developed and under-developed countries. This initiative will, ultimately, benefit the patients and improve healthcare standards across the board, he opined.

The forthcoming mega event in Turkey will focus on curriculum planning, scholarship & innovation, professionalism & ethics, technology & medical education, 21^st century teaching & learning, role of students in curriculum planning, programme evaluation & accreditation as well as faculty development, he said, adding that there will be state-of-the-art lecturers with high profile panel discussions, deliberations and exhibition and live web streaming in Pakistan and around the globe.

WHO’s WHO: Experts who would assemble in Istanbul for having brainstorming sessions include University of Istanbul’s Professor of Gastroenterology Dr Abdullah Sonsuz, CEO Training for Health Equity Network André-Jacques Neusy, IIU’s former vice chancellor Prof. Dr Anis Ahmad, University of Toronto’s Charlotte Ringsted, Armed Forces Postgraduate Medical Institute’s Dean Chaudhry Aqeel Safdar, Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) Secretary Dan Hunt, Vice President for the Section for LCME and Accreditation Services at the Association of American Medical Colleges' (AAMC) Prof Deborah Murdoch-Eaton

University of Sheffield Medical School, Eren Topkaya M.D Namık Kemal University, Prof. Dr Fadil Çitaku of Academy of Leadership Sciences, Switzerland (ALSS), Gohar Wajid University of Dammam, Matthew C E Gwee National University of Singapore, Hirotaka Onishi of Tokyo University, Prof. Hossam Hamdy of Institute of Leadership in Higher Education, Prof İskender Sayek Hacettepe, University School of Medicine; Prof John Dent University of Dundee, Prof John Sandars of University of Sheffield, Prof Khalid Bin Abdulrahman, Vice-Rector for Planning & Development at Al-Imam Mohamed Bin Saud Islamic University, Riyadh; M Brownell Anderson Vice President at the National Board of Medical Examiners, USA; Masood Anwar, Armed of Forces of Pakistan; Dr Mehmet EminAksoy, PhD Biomedical Engineering, Melih Elcin, President of Turkish Association for Medical Education, Dr Ming-Jung Ho of National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Prof N.G. Patil MBE of The University of Hong Kong, Osman Erol Hayran Hacettepe of University School of Medicine, Ankara; Perihan Torun Bezmialem Vakıf University, Istanbul, Dr Rahila Yasmeen of Riphah, Dr Rehan Ahmed Khan of Islamic International Medical College, Prof Ronald Harden of University of Dundee, Dr Saad Zafar of Riphah International University, Prof Sina Uckan of Medipol University and Usman Mahboob of Khyber Medical University.

The event, according to the organizers, also enjoys the support of Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Medical and Dental Council (PMDC), while Turkish Ministry of Health is the major partner along with prestigious universities of Turkey as well as the Turkish Airlines.