Jordan Srour, PhD

Abstract: 

Professor Hossam Hamdy

Professor of Surgery and Medical Education 

The complexity of health professions education and the healthcare ecosystem is a “wicked problem.”

It is a challenge to educate, train and develop health professionals who will be practicing in 2030 and beyond. Societal needs, expectations, and healthcare systems are rapidly changing. The interface and integration of technology in education and practice will impact formal education, continuing professional development and lifelong learning.

In this presentation, I will try to address the challenges and offer a view of the solutions through the lens of “Systems Thinking” and Health Sciences Systems.

İskender Sayek MD, FACS

Social accountability of medical schools was defined by the World Health Organization in 1995 as “the obligation to direct their education, research and service activities toward addressing the priority health concerns of the community, region, and/or nation they have a mandate to serve.” The global consensus on social accountability of medical schools published in 2010 was a landmark for future medical education worldwide. Medical schools should produce physicians with the skills and knowledge to work in the community and enhance people’s health. Various groups and institutions have tried to publicize this concept and defined how to evaluate and assess social accountability in medical education. This, however, is a complex issue. An educational institution should prove the level of impact it has on society by following basic principles of quality, equity, relevance and effectiveness and actively participating in health system development. There are various methods used to assess social accountability for medical schools.

Boelen et al have defined “a social obligation scale” at three different levels against six elements, with social accountability being regarded as the utmost and most desirable level of social obligation. Being socially accountable means working in partnership with key stakeholders such as policymakers, healthcare organizations, health insurance providers, health professionals and civil society to make the greatest impact on people’s wellbeing1. Boelen and Woollard have used the Conceptualization, Production and Usability (CPU) model for the evaluation of social accountability2.

THE Net has subsequently designed an evaluation framework inspired by the CPU model and conducts research to assess its validity, in order to improve the outcome and impact on health. THE Net framework is based on a series of questions in three sections3,4:       

1. How do our schools work?
2. What do we do?
3. What difference do we make?

IFMSA developed a practical student toolkit for the assessment of social accountability based on 12 questions rated on a Lickert Scale. If the school score is 18-26 it means that “the school is doing well; look for areas of weakness and ways to advocate to improve social accountability.” And if the score is 27-36 it means that “the school has a strong foundation in social accountability; advocate for continued growth and leadership in social accountability⁵.

TEPDAD described a national framework for implementing social accountability which operates as a guide following five domains and 63 recommendations for Turkish Medical Schools⁶.

In conclusion, the assessment of social accountability in medical schools is complex, but various methods have been defined which can be used for this purpose.

1. Boelen C. et al. Education for Health 2012;25:180-194
2. Boelen C., Woollard R. Medical Education 2009;43:887-894
3. The Training for Health Equity Network. THEnet’s Social Accountability Evaluation Framework Version 1. Monograph I (1 ed.). The Training for Health Equity Network, 2011.
4. Ross S.J. et al. Education Health 2014:27;116-126
5. IFMSA Students’ Toolkit Social Accountability of Medical Schools
6. Sayek I. et al. Medical Teacher 2021;43:223-231

Ralf Krage, MD

What is SimUniversity?

SimUniversity is an innovative initiative of the European Simulation Society (SESAM) that offers a platform for undergraduate healthcare students to compete in simulation scenarios, contributing to their formative education on an international platform.

The competition allows the students (preferably four-member-interprofessional teams) to learn from each other under the supervision of experienced clinical and simulation experts.

All sessions are specifically designed to provide a safe, educational and enjoyable learning environment. The scenarios mirror basic emergency situations such as resuscitation, anaphylaxis and myocardial infarction, and they entice the students to demonstrate their knowledge and skills.

Because those skillsets could potentially differ from team to team depending on their national curricula and cultural background, students engage with expert facilitators in a debrief following every simulation session that focuses on promoting non-technical skills such as leadership, situational awareness, decision-making, communication, and assertiveness, in addition to clinical reasoning within a team.