IZN of medical education

 Happy Monday ka. 

Earlier on, I read an article (Internationalisation of medical education is now vital by Anette Wu, Geoffroy PJC Noel, Betty Leask, Lisa Unangst, Edward Choi and Hans de Wit  20 June 2020, University World News) that convinced people in the circle that it's time to really focus more on internationalization of medical education as it could be an effective mechanism to enhance global health....."ensuring that future physicians practise medicine within a global frame of reference.........provide the foundation and framework for international leadership and collaboration and provide physicians with skills in cultural competencies, ultimately improving healthcare worldwide and thereby enhancing Global Health."

Frankly, I was glad to read it because it isn't easy to discuss IZN with the medical and science circle when it comes to the firm belief that their own disciplines are already international by nature. Blame it on myself for not being able to find the sound and concise justifications too ka. 

Then, over the weekend, I read another article entitled, 'Internationalization of Medical Education—a Scoping Review of the Current Status in the United States' by the same group of authors, published by Springer on August 5, 2020 ka. (Medical Science Educator https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-020-01034-8) I think it's a real useful one to share for higher education as a whole ka. Let me point out several ka:

1. From 2000 to 2018, the three themes indicated are institutional partnerships, international learning at home, and student mobility programs.

2. I like it a lot when the authors discussed motivations for IZN which could include quality improvement, provision of access, competitiveness, growth, and financial profits.....yet they stated that the main focus has to offer a professionally relevant education that prepares all students to be interculturally proficient professionals and citizens is the responsibility of the disciplines.

3. Medical schools have to 'prepare all medical graduates to meaningfully contribute to society as professionals who practice locally but are also global citizens'  They need to learn more about 'how to build a larger global medical community using modern technology and social media led by institutional partnerships' as well.

4. Efforts have to be made to ensure that students are able to appreciate the full spectrum of healthcare systems and collaborative opportunities worldwide. More is also needed by medical schools in the US to stress international and intercultural learning outcomes for all students, and on how to teach and assess these outcomes at home under Internationalization at Home (IaH) ka. 

In all disciplines, the key points raised are worth considering with actions ka.