International Medical Education Activities

The goal of the International Medical Education office is to facilitate the development and implementation of international medical education. To meet that goal the office is engaged in the following activities.

1. Visiting Foreign Scholars

The International Medical Education office (IME) is involved in two areas of activities for visiting foreign scholars:

1. Identifies sponsors/hosts for potential visiting scholars.

Conducts orientations to Seattle and the University for scholars upon their arrival including housing assistance, English evaluations and possible training, completion of official forms (visa, tax, social security, UW, etc.), and instruction in cultural differences.

2. Assists with visiting scholars study program plans and coordination.

Since July 1990, 55 scholars have received this kind of assistance. They came from China, Eastern Europe, South America, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Mongolia and the Philippines.

2. School of Medicine Faculty

The IME is involved in two primary areas of activities for the School of Medicine faculty:

• Assists faculty traveling to foreign countries with visa procurement, travel arrangements, and cultural orientation.
• Assists UW departments/faculty who are acting as hosts with cultural orientation, housing, visas, etc. for their visitors.

Twenty (20) faculty and 12 School of Medicine departments have availed themselves of these services since July 1990. Innumerable telephone calls and letters were received from faculty and others traveling abroad or hosting scholars. Requests for information ranged from appropriate gift giving to job opportunities abroad.

3. Institutional Programs

The IME acts as the coordinating office for several faculty/student exchange programs, training programs and fellowship programs. The following briefly describe several of the current programs.

1. Faculty/Student Exchange Programs

China

This program, begun in 1991, provides fourth year UW medical students with the opportunity to spend a 4-6 week elective experience at West China University of Medical Sciences in Chengdu, China, or, beginning in 1994, at Xian Medical University. In exchange, WCUMS and XMU faculty come to the UW for a six month program in medical school administration and medical education. Seventy-five (75) UW medical students have participated in this program through spring, 2001. In exchange, 19 Chinese faculty have spent from 3 months to 1 year at the UW studying medical education. This program has been bolstered by visits to the two Chinese schools by UW Medical School Dean Philip Fialkow in October 1993, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs D. Daniel Hunt in April 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Bruce Gilliland in April 1993, Assistant Dean for Regional Affairs and Rural Health Tom Norris in April 1994, and by Department of Medical Education chairman Charles W. Dohner in April 1992, 1993 and 1996.

In 1997, the School of Medicine received a $4,950 award from the University of Washington’s Herbert H. Gowen International Studies Endowment Fund to support educational workshops conducted by UW School of Medicine faculty at West China University of Medical Sciences. This award supported travel expenses for Mary Gibbons, MD, Acting Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, and Lawrence Wilson, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, to give workshops at WCUMS in April, 1998.

Japan

Officials of Tohoku University School of Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine signed an agreement in 1991 to promote and develop cooperation in the exchange of faculty, research staff, post-graduate students, academic information, and joint research projects. Two faculty from Tohoku University visited the UW to study organ-systems curriculum. Two Department of Medical Education faculty, Charles Dohner and Jan Carline, have served as curriculum consultants at Tohoku University School of Medicine.

2. Fellowship Programs

Medical Education Fellowship Program

The University of Washington Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics has been and continues to accept ECFMG international fellows for 6 months to 12 months of independent study. International students who are interested must receive their applications through the ECFMG office.

Medical Education Support Unit - Saudi Arabia

The Department of Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics assisted in the development a Medical Education Support Unit at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Although on a limited basis, this medical education unit continues to provide assistance for improving medical education. One Department of Medical Education faculty was resident for four years as a consultant in Jeddah on this project.

3. Training Program

International AIDS Research and Training Program

Department of Medical Education staff provided administrative support from 1988-1992 to this NIH-funded center that provides AIDS research and training support for developing countries. The focus is on the epidemiologic aspects of AIDS. Individuals are engaged in a variety of experiences from a 3-month lab track to a 2-year MPH program. The program also provides funding for UW postdoctorates who travel to developing countries to pursue AIDS-related research. Scholars have come from several African, South American, Asian, and Eastern European countries. The program continues today in the Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health and Community Medicine.

4. Specific Activities and Projects

The IME office is engaged in the following specific activities.

1. Visiting Delegations

Several visiting delegations have been assisted by the office including:

• President of West China University of Medical Sciences, June 1990
• Presidents from 5 far-western Chinese medical schools, February 1993
• Chongqing Medical University, February 1993
• Wuhan Medical School, Public Health Bureaus of Tongji and Luoyang Cities (to study HMOs), December 1993
• Tohoku University, February 1994
• Tokyo University (to look at new facilities), February 1994
• Shanghai Red Cross, May 1994
• University of Limburg, Maastricht, Netherlands (to study Problem Based Learning), June 1994
• West China University of Medical Education (to study curriculum reform), Oct. – Dec. 1994
• Xinjiang Medical University and Ningxia Medical College (to study CME), February 1995
• West China University of Medical Sciences, Chengdu (to study CME), July 1995
• Ministry of Public Health, Beijing (to study CME), July 1995
• Medical Students from Kaohsiung Medical College, Taiwan, July 1996
• Kudan Research Institute, Tokyo (to study undergraduate curriculum), April-May 1997
• Medical Students from Taiwan, July 1997
• Xian Medical University officials, December 1997
• Seven administrators/faculty from Sichuan University, March 2001
• Five administrators/faculty from Sichuan University, January 2002

2. Individual Visitors

The department hosted Professor Emeritus C.A. Deng of West China University of Medical Sciences, Chengdu, China in July 1996. Dr. Deng was instrumental in the inception of the China Exchange Program and continues to be a strong advocate for its continuation.

The department has corresponded with or hosted individual faculty from academic institutions in Vietnam, Chile, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Korea, Russia, Germany, China, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Hungary, and the Netherlands. Visiting medical students from Hungary and Poland have been assisted by the department.

3. Exchange Inquiries

The following have expressed interest in developing an exchange program with the UWSOM:

• University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
• University of Ulson College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
• Medical School of Hue, Vietnam
• National Medical University of Mongolia
• Xinjiang Medical College, Urumqi, China
• Ministry of Health & Medical Education, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

4. University and Community Committees

The office has been active in various campus, community, and international committees and meetings including the UW International Resource Group, the APEC Study Center, the Foundation for International Understanding Through Students (FIUTS), the International Health Program in the UW School of Public Health and Community Medicine, the Seattle-Chongqing Sister City Association, the Program for Appropriate Technologies in Health (PATH) and the International Health Medical Education Consortium. Charles Dohner served on the President’s Task Force on International Education in 1996.

5. Teaching/Conferences/Consulting

D. Daniel Hunt and Charles Dohner attended the 1998 annual meeting of the International Health Medical Education Consortium (IHMEC) in Costa Rica. Dr. Hunt serves on that organization’s advisory council. While in Costa Rica, Drs. Hunt and Dohner explored clerkship opportunities for 4^th year medical students. Charles Dohner attended the October 1990 conference of the US/China Educational Institute in Santa Cruz and hosted the WHO Conference on "Preparing Protocols for Changing Medical Education" in August 1992. He is currently serving as Educational Consultant for the China Medical Board of New York.

Faculty in the Department of Medical Education and the Dean's Offices serve as consultants to West China University of Medical Sciences' curriculum reform process. Dr. Hunt is serving as the primary consultant to this project. The UW hosted a study team from WCUMS in October 1994, and Dr. Hunt traveled to Chengdu in April 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1998 in conjunction with that effort.

International visitors have visited the WAMI site in Pullman to observe our regional medical education system.

6. International Resource/Clearinghouse

The IME office staff has actively served as a resource and clearinghouse for many in the UW and Seattle communities hosting scholars, or traveling to China.