An ambitious Scotland-initiated venture, which will radically change the education of tomorrow's doctors across the globe, has attracted the international support it needs to make the plans a reality. Elements of the first courses will be pioneered from August 2003 by students at Hull York Medical School. The first students enrolled in the international virtual medical school IVIMEDS will start their studies in August 2004.
The launch of the world's first international virtual medical school, IVIMEDS, will be announced on Monday 10 February at the World eLearning Conference 2003 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.
The virtual school will allow students around the world to pursue a medical education through a combination of e-learning and clinical experience in local health facilities. It means that wherever they are studying - from the most remote and underdeveloped areas to high tech cities - they will have access to the best of international expertise across the range of specialisms.
Almost thirty of the world's leading medical schools from the University of Miami to the University of Queensland, Australia have joined as partners in taking forward the groundbreaking venture.
A handful of key professional bodies have also signed up to the scheme, including the National Board of Medical Examiners in the USA. Others are expected to follow in the coming weeks.
Led by the University of Dundee, the project now has partners in Germany, Italy, Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong, China, Syria, Malaysia and Australia as well as the USA and the UK where it has gained the support of all the Scottish medical schools.
The partners have appointed their first Director of Education. He is Professor Ronald Harden who was awarded the OBE in the recent New Years Honours list for his services to international medical education having led the Centre for Medical Education at the University of Dundee for 30 years.
He said: "It is no exaggeration to say that announcing the go-ahead of the international virtual medical school constitutes a historic moment for global medical education. In 10 years, when people look back at how health professionals trained across the world, the launching of IVIMEDS will be seen as a watershed.
"Its blending of the best of e-technology and face-to-face delivery could provide the cost effective answer to a range of problems including shortage of trained doctors, widening access to the profession across cultural and academic boundaries and, for rural communities, conquering the 'tyranny of distance' that discourages those with potential from going away to train."
With the first pledges of over $1 million now received for the scheme from the medical schools, the scene is set for raising funds from other sources and getting to work on priority areas including developing the curriculum and courses, student support systems, and assessment.