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OVERVIEW
The office of Knowledge Exchange and International Collaboration is the window of FOM to the outside world. It has its own projects as explained below but it also provides a support service for any other department of the faculty that needs to make contacts outside. Similar support is also provided to students and individual members of the academic staff. Below is the description of the projects planned for the 2010-2011 academic year.
OVERVIEW OF PROJECTS OF KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION:
- BACKGROUND: KFMC FOM is a new institution that aims at becoming a leading medical school in the country and in the region. It is still building its physical and academic infrastructure. It has to be creative and innovative to find areas of excellence where it can take the lead in the academic field. Being in the MOH and not MOE provides an opportunity for it to innovate and experiment because it is not restricted by the bureaucracy of traditional universities. KFMC FOM will seek academic collaboration with selected universities in the
US , EU,Canada ,Japan ,China ,Korea ,HongKong ,Singapore , andMalaysia
- OBJECTIVES: The first priority for KFMC FOM from international collaboration at the present stage is supporting the quality of teaching and learning either by visiting professor or by sending FOM exchange students overseas. The second priority is recognition, accreditation, and reputation of FOM which will be achieved through links with reputable institutions overseas. This objective is directly linked to the first priority above. Research collaboration is not a great priority at the moment but will become important when the research infra-structure is completed, more permanent staff are recruited, and postgraduate programs are initiated. Collaboration in administration matters development is not a priority at all because local Saudi expertise is very capable and needs only encouragement and motivation to benchmark with the highest available international standards.
- VISITING PROFESSORS: Professors from collaborating institutions come to FOM for a 1-1.5 weeks and undertake the following tasks: (a) Teaching at least 1-2 lectures for each of the 6 years of study (b) Conducting / observing and making recommendations about other teaching activities: PBL sessions, practical sessions, clinical rounds. (c) Act as external examiners: reviewing examination questions, marking answer scripts, and attending examiners' meetings (d) Curriculum review / development: Review and make recommendations about the curriculum. (e) Run specific faculty development workshops depending on their expertise (f) faculty evaluation using international benchmarks by holding one-to-one sessions with FOM lecturers in their field focusing on teaching and research. (g) Public lectures for the general public on a health issue related to their specialty. This is very important for building credibility and reputation for KFMC FOM locally (h) Debriefing the dean and associate deans at the end of the visit with recommendations.
- STUDENT EXCHANGE: Student exchange stimulates KFMC FOM students and exposes them to different experiences. A paper is attached on sending KFMC FOM students to institutions overseas. We also need to bring self-paying foreign students from collaborating institutions (US, EU, Canada, Japan, China, Korea, HongKong, Singapore, and Malaysia) to attend our 4-8 week summer medical school that will have academic activities run by the associate deans for academic and clinical affairs (PBL, lectures, clinical rotations, and English and/or Arabic language) as well as extra-curricular activities run by the Student affairs department (umra[1], touristic visits, cultural activities, and community service).
- RECOGNITION and ACCREDITATION: Working with our collaborating institutions we should seek to get accreditation and recognition in the
US andEurope . This will make it easier for our students to seek postgraduate training.
ADVANCED PBL COURSE OVERSEAS FOR 10 ACADEMIC STAFF OF THE KING FAHAD MEDICAL CITY
4 Objectives: 1. Advanced knowledge and skills about the PBL learning process (incorporating some aspects of the basic course as a review) – 85% of the time. 2. Acquiring extra knowledge and skills by observing and discussing with academic staff at Maastricht
5 Venue and duration: The PBL course will be held for 5 days followed by 2-3 days of interaction with university staff and students and observing academic activities. The dates can be changed by mutual agreement.
6 Topics of the basic course: Experiencing a tutorial group session 2. The role of the tutor 3. The rationale of PBL. 4. Curriculum development 5. Design of problems for PBL (and how to include basic sciences) 6. Testing problems on students 7. Curriculum governance 8. Quality assurance 9. Faculty development 10. Assessment 11. Skills training 12. Critical perceptions of PBL
7 Topics of the advanced part of the PBL course: Quality assurance in PBL (advanced) 2. Assessment (advanced) 3. Introducing Basic Sciences in PBL; 4. Application of Technology Enhanced Learning 5. Skills teaching 6. Tutorial skills 7. PBL and work-based learning 8. Faculty (staff) development (advanced) 9. Implementing PBL: Organization and Management Development Issues 10. PBL and educational research 11. Lectures in PBL
MEDICAL STUDENT SUMMER EXCHANGE PROGRAMS: ENDING FOM / KFMC TO OVERSEAS INSTITUTIONS FOR CLINICAL ELECTIVE TRAINING
4 INTRODUCTION: FOM at KFMC has decided to send students to attend 8-12 week elective clinical programs at foreign medical school in the summer to enhance the quality of their medical education at KFMC FOM. Positions will be sought in the US , UK , Canada , Australia , New Zealand Singapore , HongKong, and Malaysia
5 OBJECTIVES: (a) Foreign experience: Exposure to foreign experiences that will broaden the student's outlook, knowledge, and skills (b) Benchmarking: foreign experience will reassure students that their program at FOM KFMC is at par with the best in the world. It will also enable them identify gaps in their knowledge and skills that need to be covered.
6 EXPECTATIONS: (a) Expectations from the student: Students will be expected to follow the schedules set by the host institution in addition to extra enrichment activities. The student is expected to have the best behavior that will maintain the good reputation of Islam and the country. At the end of the program the student will be expected to write a report for FOM/KFMC describing his experiences and underlining what he has learned as well as suggestions for improvement. (b) Expectations from FOM KFMC: FOM will be in charge of logistics of applications, immigration and other formalities in the host country, finalizing details of the attachment with the host institution, booking air tickets, and looking for accommodation. It will provide a student with a personal KFMC advisor from the same specialty. It will provide one administrator who will act as a one-stop center for all the student's problems. (c) Expectations from the host institution. The host institution will be asked to provide a program and schedule, a personal advisor/mentor for each student, a local student buddy for purposes of socialization, administrative and logistics support, a report and written evaluation on each student.
OBSTETRIC & GYNECOLOGY CLINICAL TRAINING OVERSEAS FOR MALE CLINICAL PHASE STUDENTS
1.0 INTRODUCTION: This is a proposal to send clinical students to undertake 4 weeks of their obstetrics and gynecology clinical rotations overseas where they can get unrestricted access to female patients. This implies that a batch of 15 male clinical phase students will be sent overseas every 12 weeks when it is their turn to undertake the Obs-Gyne clinical training. Proposed countries for this are: HongKong (HongKong University ), Malaysia (University of Malaya , International Islamic University, National University of Malaysia), and Singapore
2.0 OBJECTIVES: (a) Exposure to medical training and practice in an overseas environment which opens new visions and motivates students as they interact with students of other cultures. (b) 2.2 Acquisition of practical clinical experience in history taking, examination, and simple procedures on patients in the Obs-Gyn wards. Such experience is not obtained easily at KFMC because of cultural and religious sensitivities.
1.0 Introduction: The International Winter Medical School (ISMMS) is part of KFMC FOM's international collaborative efforts and knowledge exchange.
2.0 Objectives: ISMS will enable FOM 2nd year medical students study and interact with students from 10+ countries. It will be a motivation and an academic benchmark. It will broaden intellectual and cultural perspectives. Overseas students will benefit in being introduced to FOM's approach to problem-based medical education, study of languages (English or Arabic), exposure to Saudi Arabian culture and tourist attractions, and for Muslim students performing umra and visiting the Prophet's mosque.
3.0 Selection of students:
4.0 ISMS will be limited to 20 students divided equally between FOM and overseas universities in such a way that each foreign student will have a FOM buddy for social and cultural orientation. Announcements will be sent to the following medical schools with the aim of recruiting a total of 10 second year students from premier universities all over the world.
5.0 Curriculum of ISMMS: Students will spend 2 weeks on campus at FOM and 1 week visiting other parts of Saudi Arabia
VISITING PROFESSORS AT KFMC FOM
1.0 Background: The first priority for KFMC FOM from international collaboration at the present stage is supporting the quality of teaching and learning either by visiting professor or by sending FOM exchange students overseas. This will lead directly to recognition, accreditation, and reputation of FOM which will be achieved through links with reputable institutions overseas.
2.0 Timing and duration: It is planned to invite a visiting professor on 2-monthly basis. The choice of the person to come will be dictated by the curricula material being covered by the students at that time. The visit will be 5 working days: Saturday – Wednesday.
3.0 Objectives / activities: Visiting professors will undertake the following tasks: (a) Teaching at least 1-2 lectures for each of the 6 years of study. These will be overview, summary, and integrative lectures that will supplement and not replace scheduled lectures by FOM staff (b) Conducting / observing PBL sessions, practical sessions, clinical rounds. (c) Act as external examiners: reviewing examination questions, marking answer scripts, and attending examiners' meetings (d) Curriculum review and recommendations. (e) Faculty development workshops depending on their expertise (f) faculty counseling using international benchmarks by holding one-to-one sessions with FOM lecturers in their field focusing on teaching and research. (g) City-wide grand round on a topic of mutual interest (h) Public lectures for the general public on a health issue related to their specialty. This is very important for building credibility and reputation for KFMC FOM locally (h) Debriefing the dean and associate deans at the end of the visit with recommendations.